Brand power is an elusive quality for any contemporary business. To the extent that companies can affect theirs, Mission Marketing Group (TMMG) is there to help, and its pitch seems to be working. The reported period saw the group sign up Halfords (HFD), Greene King (GNK), O2 and more, helping to send operating income up by a tenth to £32.4m.
Those client wins and last year's acquisitions are just as well, as the marketplace continues to be competitive. There have also been some concerns that budgetary pressures on clients would be exacerbated as a result of uncertainty arising from the UK's vote to leave the European Union. The good news is that operating margins have been maintained from the comparable period last year, and are expected to improve in the second half, in line with traditional client spending cycles.
Cyclical is also the best way to describe the group's balance sheet. Net debt has fallen since the year end in December, but it is once again expected to rise in the next six months as working capital requirements increase. But net operating cash inflows have doubled to £4.8m, which allowed the group to reduce some of the debt pile and settle some of its financial obligations relating to various acquisitions.
Broker FinnCap expects 2016 full-year adjusted pre-tax profits of £7.2m, giving EPS of 6.7p (up from £6.5m and 5.9p in 2015).
MISSION MARKETING (TMMG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 43p | MARKET VALUE: | £36m | |
| TOUCH: | 42-44p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 48p | LOW: 34p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.3% | PE RATIO: | 9 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 89p* | NET DEBT: | 13% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 66.6 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 0.3 |
| 2016 | 74.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 0.5 |
| % change | +11 | +12 | +9 | +67 |
Ex-div: 3 Nov Payment: 2 Dec *Includes intangible assets of £82m, or 97p a share | ||||
