The increase in statutory full-year profits at Wilmington (WIL) will court attention, but it can be rationalised. The reported period benefited from the sale of the ICP business, which brought in £1.9m, while the comparative period was hit by one-off costs including £3.1m spent on moving the head office and a goodwill impairment of £8.6m. On an adjusted basis, pre-tax profits fell 11.5 per cent to £19.3m, mainly due to increases in costs, including investments in infrastructure and product development.
Uncertainty around Brexit has been a headache for companies across sectors, and the publisher is no exception. The professional division reported a 2 per cent organic revenue decline, which was blamed on the “UK economic/political climate”. Healthcare and risk and compliance fared better, with organic revenue growth of 1 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. In the latter, there was strong demand for online classes and bespoke in-house programmes, and new courses have been developed for wealth management. Its Axco business secured a number of multi-year contract renewals with major customers.
Analysts at Numis expect pre-tax profit of £20.1m during the year to June 2020 giving EPS of 18.2p, increasing to £21m and 19p in FY2021.
WILMINGTON (WIL) | ||||
ORD PRICE: | 197p | MARKET VALUE: | £172m | |
TOUCH: | 190-202p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 224p | LOW: 160p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 4.6% | PE RATIO: | 15 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 49p* | NET DEBT: | 79% |
Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
2015 | 95.1 | 10.3 | 9.0 | 7.7 |
2016 | 106 | -3.4 | -7.4 | 8.1 |
2017 | 120 | 15.9 | 14.7 | 8.5 |
2018 | 121 | 2.3 | -0.5 | 8.8 |
2019 | 123 | 14.7 | 12.7 | 9.1 |
% change | +1 | +547 | - | +3 |
Ex-div: | 17 Oct | |||
Payment: | 15 Nov | |||
*Includes intangible assets of £101m, or 115p a share |