In July, the Board announced that it was adopting a distribution policy under which, for the foreseeable future, it will pay annual dividends in excess of 50% of its annual profits after tax subject to market and capital requirements. This total will be split between interim dividends (1/3) (generally to be paid in the month of November) and final dividends (2/3) (generally to be paid in the month of May).
The Board declared an interim dividend for the six months ended 30 April 2022 of 2.6 pence per Ordinary share (the "Interim Dividend"), which amounted to £9.84 million, paid to shareholders on 3 November 2022.
At the same time, the Board was also pleased to announce an additional return of £24.57 million to shareholders by way of a special dividend of 6.5 pence per ordinary share ("Special Dividend"). This was paid to shareholders on 1 September 2022.
The Board has declared a final dividend of 3.00 pence per Ordinary share ("Final Dividend"). This does not exactly correspond to the 2/3 split mentioned above since this year the Company paid a special dividend which, when added to the interim dividend, already exceeded 50% of PBT. When combined with the Interim Dividend of 2.6 pence and the Special Dividend of 6.5 pence, this brings the total dividend for the year ended 31 October 2022 to 12.10 pence per Ordinary share.
Subject to approval at the Company's annual general meeting on 28 April 2023, the Final Dividend will be paid on 12 May 2023 to shareholders listed on the register at the close of business on 21 April 2023. The ex-dividend date will be 20 April 2023.
Other Financial Highlights:
- Photo.ME revenue increased by 25.2% to £154.3 million as photobooth activity continued to recover following the easing of travel and social restrictions across most territories
- Wash.ME revenue increased by 14.0% to £61.8 million reflecting the successful rollout, and uptake, of higher cost-per-use laundry machines
- The total number of Revolution laundry units in operation increased by 16.1% to 4,754 as the Group continued its strategic expansion of the estate
