The Christmas season has begun, and as promised Park Group (PKG) has a fuller hamper than at this point last year. Growth across its consumer saving, corporate benefits and online businesses improved the company's performance in its traditionally lossmaking first half, with good prospects for the crucial second term.
A rise in household spending and some early-order releases pushed billings in its consumer business up by more than half to £27m. Park successfully encouraged some customers to make their purchases earlier than usual, spreading its festive and Black Friday load. But the bulk of annual revenues are made in the second half, when consumers and employees spend their vouchers. Prospects look good, with the order book for the full year currently 7 per cent ahead.
Companies are also spending more on benefits for their staff: corporate billings were up 12 per cent at £66m. Meanwhile, Park's pre-paid card grew its billings by almost a quarter to £22m. The e-commerce business, which includes highstreetvouchers.com, posted decent growth, including from global consumers wanting to buy vouchers for UK residents. The company, already present in Ireland, is now looking to mainland Europe to grow its corporate business.
Analysts at Arden Partners forecast adjusted pre-tax profits of £12.2m and EPS of 5.2p for the year to March 2016, compared with £11.1m and 4.7p in FY2015.
| PARK GROUP (PKG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 96.8p | MARKET VALUE: | £178m | |
| TOUCH: | 95.8-97.8p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 98p | LOW: 52p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | PE RATIO: | 19 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | * | NET CASH: | £11.9m | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 58.5 | -1.91 | -1.05 | 0.80 |
| 2015 | 72.8 | -1.12 | -0.62 | 0.85 |
| % change | +24 | - | - | +6 |
Ex-div: 3 Mar Payment: 6 Apr *Negative shareholder value of £5.4m | ||||
