Next Fifteen announce a final dividend of 7p per ordinary share will be paid on 13 August 2021 to shareholders listed on the register of members on 9 July 2021. Shares will go ex-dividend on 8 July 2021. In the prior year, given the macroeconomic backdrop due to Covid-19, the Group decided to suspend the final dividend. This makes the total dividend for the year 7p per share (2020: 2.5p).
Other financial highlights include:
- Group net revenue growth of 7% to £266.9m and statutory revenue growth of 8%, aided by acquisitions
- Adjusted profit before tax up 22% to £49.1m
- Adjusted diluted earnings per share increased by 17% to 40.7p
- Net cash generated from operations increased by 47% to £72.9m
- Strong balance sheet with net cash of £14.0m at 31 January 2021 (2020: net debt of £9.3m)
- Expanded briefs from a number of clients including Salesforce, IBM and Amazon
- Material step into innovation consulting through the acquisition of Mach49 in August 2020 and the acquisition of CRE in July brought digital optimisation skillset into the Group, with both being earnings accretive in the year
- Following a review of the property portfolio in the light of plans to operate more flexible home working, a £10m property impairment charge has been booked due to surplus office space which resulted in a statutory loss before tax of £1.3m. This should yield approximately £5m in annualised savings
- Post year end commitment to repay UK Government furlough support
