Financial Highlights:
· Group revenue up 6.8% to £379.9 million (2016: £355.8 million)
· Gross sales for 12 month period exceed £1 billion for the first time
· EBITDA up 4.5% to £32.4 million (2016: £31.0 million)
· Profit before tax up 3.1% to £16.7 million (2016: £16.2 million).
· Underlying basic earnings per share up 3.3% to 6.2 pence (2016: 6.0 pence)
· Continued strong cash generation: gearing ratio reduced to 1.42x (2016: 1.71x)
· Interim dividend increased 5.7% to 3.7 pence (2016: 3.5 pence)
· Special dividend of 9.5 pence per share declared
