Wilmington’s (WILM) top-line growth was buoyed by the acquisition of Health Service Journal last January, but revenues contracted by 3 per cent on an underlying basis. This stemmed from the discontinuation of the group's legal practice support business, together with delays in its compliance unit, and a slowdown in the UK pharmaceutical area of the healthcare division. The information service provider’s shares were marked down in response to the news.
Risk and compliance revenues were broadly flat at £19.6m, with the overall result dampened by a decline in the 'compliance' component of the business, which management attributed to an anomalous period, entailing some labour-intensive bespoke work for clients.
Healthcare, the largest segment, grew revenues by 27 per cent to £20.1m. However, this was largely thanks to HSJ. High-margin UK pharma contracts were weaker due to the uncertainty around the EU’s new general data protection regulation (GDPR), which launch this May. Pan-European data platforms also applied competitive pressures, although Wilmington’s position should be strengthened by its recent acquisition of Interactive Medica.
Analysts at Numis forecast pre-tax profits of £23m and EPS of 20.3p for the year to June 2018 (up from £21.4m and 18.9p in FY2017).
| WILMINGTON (WIL) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 235p | MARKET VALUE: | £205m | |
| TOUCH: | 235-238p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 284p | LOW: 209p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.7% | PE RATIO: | 20 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 53.5p* | NET DEBT: | 98% | |
| Half-year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2016 | 54.8 | 5.0 | 4.4 | 3.9 |
| 2017 | 58.2 | 2.0 | 1.4 | 4.0 |
| % change | +6 | -59 | -68 | +3 |
| Ex-div: | 8 Mar | |||
| Payment: | 6 Apr | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £113m, or 130p a share | ||||
