Restructuring costs at public sector outsourcing group, Tribal, has pushed the company into a loss in the first half of the year. But, with the Health and Government and resourcing division now sold, chairman John Ormerod said: "Tribal is now focused on developing its activities in the education, learning and training markets."
What remains is a smaller, but crucially profit-making business. Before restructuring costs, the group reported a profit before tax of £2.8m, down from £3.1m in the same period last year. Revenue is now split 60:40 between its services and technology divisions. The former provides schools inspection and teacher training and saw operating profits more than double to £1.8m, on a 15 per cent increase in sales, as margins improved mainly due to cost-cutting. The technology business, providing computer software to aid learning, reported a 5 per cent rise in revenue, but operating profit slipped from £5.1m to £4.4m, partly due to pressure on government funding for clients in the UK.
Investec Securities expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profits to rise from £6.8m to £7.6m, giving EPS of 7.6p (5.6p in 2010).
TRIBAL (TRB) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 46p | MARKET VALUE: | £43.2m | |
| TOUCH: | 45-46.5p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 94p | LOW: 23p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.4% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 48p* | NET DEBT: | 38% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 52.4 | 1.30 | 0.80 | 1.85 |
| 2011 | 57.5 | -0.71 | -0.70 | 0.40 |
| % change | +10 | - | - | -78 |
Ex-div: 21 Sep Payment: 21 Oct *Includes intangible assets of £77.2m, or 82p a share | ||||
