4imprint (FOUR) is confident about future sales growth. Indeed, bosses are now aiming for $1bn (£0.7bn) by 2022; a significant uptick, but realistic when you consider that the top line has nearly doubled since 2013. This ambitious target was accompanied by news of a substantial increase in full-year earnings and a 43p special dividend, giving an effective yield of 4.6 per cent. That said, shares in the marketing specialist pulled back on the release of these results – perhaps reflecting guidance that operating profit will stay flat in 2018, hampered by continued investment in raising brand awareness.
North America, which comprises 97 per cent of group revenue, grew at 12 per cent year on year – trumping wider industry growth of just 3 per cent. Orders from existing customers were up 16 per cent, complemented by high retention rates. To drive new business, online marketing spending has been outstripping the growth of the overall marketing budget, which fed through to a slight reduction in the gross margin. Conversely, overheads in the trading businesses increased at a lower rate than revenues. So operational performance certainly hasn't come at the expense of revenue growth.
Analysts at FinnCap forecast adjusted pre-tax profits of $42.5m and EPS of 117.9ȼ for the year to December 2018, against $42.5m and 107.7ȼ in 2017.
| 4IMPRINT (FOUR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 1,865p | MARKET VALUE: | £524m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,830-1,870p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,080p | LOW: 1,538p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 150ȼ | NET CASH: | $30.8m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (ȼ) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2013 | 333 | 14.5 | 40.1 | 17.00 |
| 2014 | 416 | 23.3 | 59.7 | 20.45 |
| 2015 | 497 | 31.2 | 81.3 | 26.57 |
| 2016 | 558 | 34.2 | 87.3 | 41.82 |
| 2017* | 628 | 40.7 | 103 | 42.58 |
| % change | +12 | +19 | +18 | +2 |
| Ex-div: | 29 Mar | |||
| Payment: | 11 May | |||
| *Excludes proposed special dividend of 43.17p per share £1=$1.39 | ||||
