A 50 per cent hike in the dividend is always guaranteed to grab the headlines, but a focus on "value rather than price" has been the underlying driver of shareholder value for WYG (WYG). With operating profits up 56 per cent, this is certainly borne out by the group's full-year figures. And with revenue growth accelerating through the second half, it appears that momentum is gathering.
The 12 per cent adjusted operating margin achieved in the UK demonstrates the work done to improve the contract mix, with buoyant domestic infrastructure and planning markets helping the cause. The engineering consultancy revealed a record order book of £150m, with around 60 per cent of expected revenues for the 2017 March year-end already contracted. And management say contract duration has been expanding across the business.
Conditions in the core end-markets remain broadly favourable and it's worth noting that management believes that trading would be largely unaffected by a Brexit vote, because WYG's locally registered businesses in Poland, Turkey and Croatia bid for the lion's share of the group's European work.
Prior to these figures, Edison had anticipated adjusted pre-tax profits of £9.5m for the year to March 2017, giving EPS of 12.1p (from 9.8p in FY2016).
| WYG (WYG) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 145p | MARKET VALUE: | £99m | |
| TOUCH: | 142-147p | 12-MONTHHIGH: | 145p | LOW: 103p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.0% | PE RATIO: | 36 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 41p* | NET CASH: | £0.18m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 140 | 11.9 | 13.4 | nil |
| 2013 | 126 | -3.3 | -5.3 | nil |
| 2014 | 127 | 1.8 | 3.2 | 0.5 |
| 2015 | 129 | 1.4 | 2.9 | 1.0 |
| 2016 | 133 | 2.2 | 4.0 | 1.5 |
| % change | +3 | +54 | +38 | +50 |
Ex-div: 1 Sep Payment: 28 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £27.5m, or 40p a share | ||||
