The MacFarlane Group plc Board proposes a final dividend of 2.65p per share (2022: 2.52p per share) payable on 30 May 2024, taking the total dividend for 2023 to 3.59p per share (2022: 3.42p per share) up 5% on 2022.
Other financial highlights include:
Group revenue reduced by 3% versus 2022 to £280.7m.
Adjusted Group profit before tax grew 10% from £23.5m to £25.8m.
Group profit before tax at £20.3m increased by 2% after charging £1.5m for deferred contingent consideration related to the acquisition of PackMann Gessellschaft fur Verpackungen und Dienstleistungen mbH ('PackMann'), which delivered a stronger operating performance than previously anticipated.
Basic and diluted earnings per share were 9.44p per share (2022: 9.89p per share) and 9.34p per share (2022: 9.78p per share) respectively largely due the higher tax rate of 23.5% in 2023 (2022: 19.0%).
