Organic growth at Next Fifteen

More important was the recovery in organic revenues in the second half across three of the group’s four geographical subsidiaries. Management blamed political and economic uncertainty for poor underlying trading in the first six months of the year, but this had recovered to a 5.2 per cent increase by the year-end. Only Asia reported a downturn in organic revenues, while investment in the IT infrastructure across the region dented margins.

But elsewhere, Next Fifteen has got its spending under control. Staff costs increased due to the expansion in the business, but this was offset by the successful integration of recent acquisitions. Operating profit margins hit 15.3 per cent as a result, compared with 14.6 per cent last year, and operating profits rose by a fifth to £30m.

Brokers expect the acquisitions made in the second half of the 2018 financial year to help boost revenues and profits again in FY2019. Consensus EPS is forecast to rise to 3.2p, compared with 2.8p in these numbers.