SThree HY Pre-tax Profit Down

SThree plc (STHR.L) reported that its profit before tax for the half-year ended 31 May 2018 was 17.8 million pounds, down 7% from last year. But, adjusted profit before tax was 20.3 million pounds up 6% from the prior year.

Reported earnings per was 9.6 pence, down 1.0 pence. Share dilution mainly results from various share options in place and expected future settlement of certain tracker shares. The dilutive effect on earnings per share from tracker shares will vary in future periods depending on the profitability of the underlying tracker businesses, the volume of new tracker arrangements created and the settlement of vested arrangements.

On an adjusted basis, earnings per share was up by 0.6 pence at 11.6 pence, due to an increase in the adjusted profit before tax.

Revenue for the year was up 14% on a constant currency basis to 585.9 million pounds and up 12% on a reported basis.

The Board proposes to pay an interim dividend of 4.7 pence, unchanged from last year. This will be paid on 7 December 2018 to shareholders on record at 2 November 2018. The Board will review the appropriate level of the final dividend in due course, taking into account, inter alia, achieved and expected trading of the Group, together with its balance sheet position. As previously stated, the Board is targeting a dividend cover of between 2.0x and 2.5x, based on underlying EPS, over the short to medium term.

The company said, “We are continuing to invest in our highest performing teams, to build on this growth and consistent with our vision to be the number one STEM talent provider in the best STEM markets. The Group is performing well and we are making good progress against our five-year growth plan.”

by RTTNews Staff Writer

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