Last year was "a game of two halves", says David Morgan, chairman of Mission Marketing (TMMG). In the first half, the advertising and PR agency "cleared up a number of tricky issues", such as the loss of a major client, management changes and redundancies. In the second half, business picked up sharply, while the bottom line benefited from cost-cutting and lower interest payments as a result of the company's long-standing debt-reduction plan.
True, £1.5m of exceptional costs relating to the first-half restructuring significantly dented full-year profits. Stripping these and higher depreciation and amortisation charges out, however, adjusted pre-tax profits actually rose slightly, to £5.0m from £4.9m in 2012. Moreover, adjusted pre-tax profits in the second half were roughly double those in the first half - reflecting a traditional second-half bias but also an improving business environment. Strong cash generation also allowed Mission to restore bi-annual dividends after a five-year hiatus.
Encouragingly, the "early signs for 2014 are very positive", says Mr Morgan. Analysts at broker finnCap expect double-digit profit growth in 2014, with adjusted pre-tax profits of £5.5m and adjusted EPS of 5.1p (2012: 4.5p).
THE MISSION MARKETING (TMMG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 42.5p | MARKET VALUE: | £33m | |
| TOUCH: | 41.5-43.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 48p | LOW: 20p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.4% | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 84p* | NET DEBT: | 17% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 86 | -0.9 | -5.5 | nil |
| 2010 | 90 | 1.6 | 1.7 | nil |
| 2011 | 116 | 4.1 | 4.4 | nil |
| 2012 | 117 | 4.7 | 4.7 | nil |
| 2013 | 124 | 3.2 | 3.1 | 1.0 |
| % change | +6 | -32 | -34 | - |
Ex-div: 9 Jul Payment: 21 Jul *Includes intangible assets of £72.5m, or 94p a share | ||||
