Blame the depressed oil price for a poor set of numbers from energy consultancy group RPS (RPS). The group, which provides a range of services to the oil and gas industry across the UK and North America, saw a significant reduction in the amount spent by clients on exploration and production (E&P) last year, which pushed fee income down nearly 30 per cent to £123m. The group was also forced to make a £7m bad debt provision and take a £20m impairment charge on assets, as it believes client expenditure will reduce materially again this year. Despite cost saving initiatives, the group reckons fee income and profit at this division will fall further in 2016.
The performance at the energy business explains why the numbers don't look great at the group level; that segment accounted for 45 per cent of group profit in 2014 but just 17 per cent in 2015. Elsewhere, profit from the built and natural environment division grew by as fifth to £41m, while profit from the Australia and Asia Pacific segment grew 48 per cent to £12.1m.
Forecasts are under review, but broker Peel Hunt had expected pre-tax profit of £54m in 2016, giving EPS of 17.6p, compared with £51.8m and 16.6p in 2015.
| RPS GROUP (RPS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 188p | MARKET VALUE: | £418m | |
| TOUCH: | 188.3-189.3p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 260p | LOW: 162p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.2% | PE RATIO: | 60 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 164p* | NET DEBT: | 22% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 529 | 40.5 | 13.5 | 5.60 |
| 2012 | 556 | 40.2 | 11.9 | 6.40 |
| 2013 | 568 | 43.6 | 13.1 | 7.36 |
| 2014 | 572 | 46.3 | 15.2 | 8.47 |
| 2015 | 567 | 9.9 | 3.1 | 9.74 |
| % change | -1 | -79 | -80 | +15 |
Ex-div: 21 Apr Payment: 20 May *Includes intangible assets of £417m, or 187p a share | ||||
