Shareholders in iomart (IOM) will be encouraged by chief executive Angus MacSween's view that there is no reason for the web hosting and cloud computing specialist not to implement a "more generous" dividend policy. He has no concerns about the sustainability of the significantly higher payout - hardly surprising given a 22 per cent rise in operating cash flow.
The cloud services division registered double-digit revenue growth to £72.7m, primarily as a result of organic growth. Consultancy service SystemsUp struggled due to lack of recurring revenue, but Mr MacSween said the company would like to do more in the public sector in the future. In the Easyspace segment revenue grew by 22 per cent to £13.2m, thanks largely to the acquisition of United Hosting during the previous year.
Analysts at Peel Hunt expect pre-tax profits of £24.6m in the year to March 2018, giving EPS of 18.4p, up from £22.4m and 17p in FY2017.
IOMART (IOM) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 325p | MARKET VALUE: | £350m | |
TOUCH: | 324-328p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 345p | LOW: 239p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.8% | PE RATIO: | 29 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 87p* | NET DEBT: | 11% |
Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | 43.0 | 8.7 | 6.9 | 1.40 |
2014 | 55.6 | 9.7 | 7.3 | 1.75 |
2015 | 65.8 | 10.8 | 8.3 | 2.50 |
2016 | 76.3 | 13.0 | 10.3 | 3.15 |
2017 | 89.6 | 14.7 | 11.3 | 6.00 |
% change | +17 | +13 | +9 | +90 |
Ex-div: 10 Aug Payment: 6 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £81.7m, or 75.9p a share |