The Appreciate Group PLC Board has declared an interim dividend of 0.6p per share, an increase of 50% on last year (H1 FY2021 0.4p). The dividend will be paid on 6 April 2022 to shareholders on the register on 25 February 2022, with an ex-dividend date of 24 February 2022. Appreciate Group's dividend policy seeks to reflect the Group's strong underlying cash flow and profit generation, whilst retaining sufficient capital to fund investment in the business.
Other financial highlights include:
Billings up 19.6% to £118.2m (H1 FY2021: £98.8m), broadly similar to H1 FY2020 (£120.2m), the last period of normal trading prior to the pandemic
Revenue increased 49.6% to £41.0m (H1 FY2021: £27.4m) benefiting from redemptions, which had been deferred as a result of lockdowns, being realised as anticipated. Revenue was 23.5% higher than the pre-pandemic period (H1 FY2020: £33.2m)
Significant reduction in pre-tax loss to £2.0m (H1 FY2021: £6.2m loss) (H1 FY2020: £1.3m loss)
Financial position:
- Cash balances, including cash held in trust, at 30 September 2021, were £207.1m (H1 FY2021: £227.3m)
- Free cash lower at £2.9m (H1 FY2021: £24.9m) - this is typically the low point in their cash cycle and also reflected growth in regulatory billings (which require customer monies to be held in trust until redemption)
- Free cash at 31 October 2021 was £34.0m, (31 October 2020:£39.1m) as monies held in trust were released as Christmas Savers product was dispatched
