The Belvoir Board has reinstated its progressive dividend policy with the payment of an interim dividend of 3.4p per share (H1 2019: 3.4p) with interim dividend cover at 2.1x (H1 2019: 2.0x)
The Board also announces an additional 2.0p per share payable with the interim dividend as partial compensation for the suspension of the final 2019 dividend, with a view to a further catch-up payment at the time of the final 2020 dividend, dependent on prevailing circumstances at that time.
Other financial highlights include:
8% increase in revenue to £9,774,000 (H1 2019: £9,047,000), of which 2% related to the underlying business and 6% to the acquired Lovelle network
Management Service Fees (MSF) held up well at £4,157,000 (H1 2019: £4,201,000), only a 1% decrease
7% increase in Financial Services revenue to £4,253,000 (H1 2019: £3,969,000)
8% increase in gross profit to £6,720,000 (H1 2019: £6,198,000)
17% increase in profit before tax to £3,164,000 (H1 2019: £2,695,000) with 7% arising from the acquired Lovelle network and 10% from the underlying business
16% increase in basic earnings per share to 7.3p (2019: 6.3p)
The impact of Covid-19 on the Group's expected revenue was substantially mitigated by a reduction in operating expenses and £250,000 of government Covid-19 support
Overall H1 results are in line with management's pre Covid-19 expectations
