A final dividend for the year ended 30 July 2022 of 9.0p resulted in a payment of £3,198,000 which was made on 9 December 2022. It has been recognised in shareholders' equity in the period to 28 January 2023.
During the period dividend equivalents were paid on the vesting of the 2022 LTIP totalling £3,000.
The Board has declared an interim dividend of 4.5p (2022: 4.5p) per share. This dividend will be payable on 11 May 2023 to shareholders on the register on 21 April 2023. The ex-dividend date is 20 April 2023. The interim dividend, amounting to £1,522,000 has not been recognised as a liability in this interim financial information. It will be recognised in shareholders' equity in the year to 29 July 2023.
Other Financial Highlights:
- Delivered sales increased 3.4% with improvements in the supply chain reducing lead times
- Underlying loss before tax of £4.7m, £0.9m ahead of the prior period and typical of H1 performance, which includes significant marketing expenditure to support the winter sale and where profitability is substantially H2 weighted
- Excluding stock sales, gross margin was in line with the prior period. Reported decline due to an increase in display stock sales as the Group rolled out the decluttering programme
- Strong balance sheet with cash of £76.9m as at 28 January 2023 (H1 FY22: £87.9m)
