Wilmington: sales up, margins down

The group’s risk and compliance business lifted sales by 9 per cent. But the compliance element comprises 50 per cent of the division’s top line. Margins were impacted by the extra resources needed after the business won two international compliance training programmes, along with investment in the new North America compliance operations. The healthcare segment improved revenue by 28 per cent to £38.6m, helped by acquisitions made over the previous 18 months including the purchase of the Healthcare Service Journal (HSJ). Even so, organic revenue rose 3 per cent. Professional services includes Wilmington’s financial training and networking businesses, and its refocused legal offering. Sales here grew by 7 per cent, aided by last year’s acquisition of accountancy training company SWAT.

Under the company’s new, integrated ‘One Wilmington’ culture, London employees are being brought under one roof – meaning an additional annual cost of around £0.9m from January 2018. And higher operating expenditure of £0.75m in 2017-18 includes investment in automated marketing and the digitisation of 250 training programmes.

Analysts at broker Numis forecast adjusted full-year pre-tax profit of £23.8m and EPS of 21.2p per share, up from £21.4m and 19.1p in 2016.