Begbies Traynor reports growth amid focus on counter-cyclicals

Professional services consultancy Begbies Traynor reported full-year revenue of £121.8m on Tuesday, up from £110m year-on-year.

The AIM-traded firm said adjusted EBITDA rose to £26.6m for the 12 months ended 30 April, from £23.9m in the 2022 period.

Adjusted profit before tax improved to £20.7m from £17.8m, and profit before tax grew to £6m from £4m.

Adjusted basic earnings per share rose to 10.5p, compared to 9.1p in the prior year, while basic earnings per share increased to 1.9p, a significant improvement from the negative 0.3p a year earlier.

Begbies Traynor proposed a total dividend of 3.8p.

Additionally, the company reported net cash of £3m, slightly lower than the prior year's figure of £4.7m.

Looking ahead, the company said it entered the new financial year from a position of strength, anticipating another year of growth, aligning with market expectations.

The company said its order book for insolvency revenue experienced a 19% increase, driven by a continuous rise in the volume of insolvency cases.

Begbies Traynor said it was well-positioned to increase its involvement in larger, more complex insolvency appointments, as it now held an 11% share of the administration market, making it the second-largest player in the country by volume.

The firm said it had effectively adapted to the current macroeconomic environment, with 80% of its income derived from counter-cyclical and defensive activities.

“We have reported another successful year of continued growth, with reported results ahead of original market expectations and increased our dividend by 9%,” said executive chairman Ric Traynor.

“We have a proven growth strategy which, over the five year period between 2019 and 2023, has doubled revenue and tripled adjusted profit before tax, from a combination of organic growth and acquisitions.

“This growth has been delivered across insolvency and our full range of advisory and transactional services.”

Traynor said the firm had started its new financial year confident in its outlook.

“The increased scale of the group with complementary professional services and an enhanced client base provides a strong platform for us to continue delivering growth.

“With 80% of income generated from counter-cyclical and defensive activities, we are well-positioned in the current challenging economic environment.

“Our strong balance sheet and cash generation underpin our capacity to deliver organic growth initiatives and progress our pipeline of acquisitions, thereby continuing our track record of growth.”

At 0927 BST, shares in Begbies Traynor Group were down 1.86% at 132p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.