Having expanded its reach well beyond its UK roots, recruiter Michael Page (MPI) has its fingers in a lot of pies these days. Some of those pies are tastier than others. Last year the best-performing division was the Americas, where improving market sentiment in the US drove gross profit up 9 per cent at constant currencies, with operating profit more than doubling to £4.6m.
That better sentiment appears to be spreading across the pond. The UK, which makes up around a quarter of group gross profit, returned to growth in the second quarter of 2013. But market conditions in continental Europe remained tough and gross profit in the region fell 8 per cent to £208m. The wooden spoon, though, goes to Australia and New Zealand. Hit by the slowdown in mining and resources, gross profit from the Antipodes slumped 19 per cent.
The upshot of these mixed markets was that overall gross profit slipped 3 per cent last year. Yet Page did a commendable job of transforming this unpromising premise into bottom-line growth through a big drive to improve efficiency. An unexpected rise in the dividend, which chief executive Steve Ingham said signalled "growing optimism", also went down well.
Broker Liberum expects adjusted earnings per share of 18p this year (14.9p in 2013).
MICHAEL PAGE (MPI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 500p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.6bn | |
| TOUCH: | 500-501p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 509p | LOW: 353p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.1% | PE RATIO: | 36 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 67p* | NET CASH: | £85.4m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 0.72 | 21 | 3.9 | 8 |
| 2010 | 0.83 | 101 | 21.6 | 9 |
| 2011 | 1.02 | 86 | 18.7 | 10 |
| 2012 | 0.99 | 57 | 11.9 | 10 |
| 2013 | 1.01 | 64 | 13.8 | 10.5 |
| % change | +2 | +12 | +16 | +5 |
Ex-div: 21 May Payment: 23 Jun *Includes intangible assets of £42.1m, or 14p a share | ||||
