Character Group improves dividend as H1 revenue, pre-tax profit ease

Character Group improved its dividend as it posted falls in half-year revenue and pre-tax profit amid challenging market conditions.

The independent toy company said revenue was £61.5m, down from £65.2m, while pre-tax profit was £6.5m, down from £8.7m. Proposed dividend was 9p a share, up from 7p.

It said these were a set of solid results in challenging market conditions, and against the backdrop of significant growth in the comparative period.

Character said its second half had started in line with budget and the board remained of the view that the group was on target to achieve current market expectations for the full year.

At 14:13 BST, shares in AIM-quoted Character Group were down 2.6% to 467.5p each.