Learning Technologies (LTG) has reinstated its 2019 final dividend of 0.5p, having pulled through the first half with relatively stable revenues.
Its core software and platforms division logged 13 per cent sales growth, driven by £3.2m of revenue from the Open LMS business that was acquired in March. Meanwhile, the proportion of recurring revenues in the period shot up to 81 per cent, compared with 74 per cent in the first half last year. But the segment was not able to completely escape coronavirus disruption, as new sales “fell off a cliff” at the PeopleFluent brand in March, says chief executive Jonathan Satchell.
The smaller content and services division was hit hardest by the pandemic, with sales sliding by just over a fifth to £15.6m. This was led by a 29 per cent drop in non-recurring content revenue – although management says that trading activity has started to pick up again in the second half, with the order book sitting around a tenth lower than it was at the beginning of the year.
Broker Peel Hunt forecasts adjusted pre-tax profits of £35m and EPS of 3.8p in the 2020 full year, compared with £39.1m and 4.4p in 2019.
| LEARNING TECHNOLOGIES (LTG) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 136p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.0bn | |
| TOUCH: | 135-137p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 174p | LOW: 97p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.3% | PE RATIO: | 102 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 24p* | NET CASH: | £65.5m | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2019 | 62.6 | 6.8 | 1.00 | 0.25 |
| 2020 | 64.1 | 4.1 | 0.71 | 0.25 |
| % change | +2 | -39 | -29 | |
| Ex-div: | 08 Oct | |||
| Payment: | 30 Oct | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £228m or 31p a share | ||||
