Training and publishing specialist Wilmington's (WIL) turnover may have slipped slightly at the half-year stage, but this largely reflected a legal division disposal. Wilmington has now completed its transformation from print to digital publishing and - after adjusting for various expcetionals - underlying pre-tax profit rose 15 per cent year-on-year to £6m.
Increased regulation in the banking business is boosting demand for compliance training and revenue there rose 9 per cent to £8.7m, with divisional profits having jumped 25 per cent to £2.1m. Meanwhile, the pensions and insurance operation grew profits 17 per cent to £2.89m, helped by international demand. And while the healthcare business saw revenues fall 8 per cent to £6m as lower-margin work was cut, profits here rose 9 per cent to £1.3m. Disposals did push the legal side's revenues down 9 per cent to £9.5m, but profits here grew from £409,000 to £567,000.
Print revenues have now been reduced to just 2 per cent of the group total and Wilmington further improved its digital presence with this February's £5.6m purchase of NHiS, a data provider to the healthcare sector.
Broker Numis Securities expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £14.3m, giving EPS of 12.8p (2012: £13.2m/11.5p).
WILMINGTON (WIL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 160p | MARKET VALUE: | £136m | |
| TOUCH: | 157-162p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 168p | LOW: 82p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.4% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 64p* | NET DEBT: | 62% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 41.6 | 0.94 | 0.61 | 3.50 |
| 2012 | 40.9 | 5.09 | 5.67 | 3.50 |
| % change | -2 | +441 | +830 | - |
Ex-div: 13 Mar Payment: 11 Apr *Includes intangible assets of £103m, or 122p per share | ||||
