Mitie grows margin against tough backdrop

Outsourcing is famously low-margin. Mitie (MTO), however, has managed to boost its adjusted operating margin by half a percentage point to 4 per cent, on the back of operational gearing, £21mn of cost savings and “careful management of inflation”. Combined with an 11 per cent increase in revenue, this caused its adjusted operating profits to shoot up by 24 per cent to £85mn in the six months to September 2023. It also allowed management to increase the dividend by 43 per cent to 1p per share.