Mission Group ends year in strong position

Digital marketing and communications specialist Mission Group reported a strong financial performance across all of its business segments in its final results on Tuesday.

The AIM-traded company said revenue for the year totalled £79.8m, an increase of £7.3m year-on-year.

Headline operating profit saw growth of £0.7m, to £8.7m, while its headline profit margin came in at 10.9%, a slight decrease of 0.2% compared to the prior year.

Its headline profit before tax was up £0.3m to reach £7.8m.

Headline earnings per share and headline diluted earnings per share both increased by 0.2p, amounting to 6.8p and 6.7p respectively.

The firm attributed its strong financial performance to operational improvements made throughout the year.

It also said that its debt leverage ratios remained comfortably within the board’s limits, with its balance sheet remaining stable with low levels of acquisition obligations outstanding.

The directors proposed a final dividend of 1.67p per share, bringing the total dividend for 2022 to 2.5p per share, making for a 4% increase from 2021.

Looking ahead, the company said trading in 2023 had started well, and was in line with the board's expectations.

Mission Group said it was continuing to monitor and capture market opportunities, reflected in its recent post-year end acquisition of Mezzo Labs, a global data science and digital analytics consultancy, and the launch of Turbine, an integrated growth media agency specialising in earned, owned and paid media for consumer brands.

“Mission’s continued growth in 2022 highlights the resilience and strength of the group across all of its agencies, and our ability to deliver value for Clients in a time of economic uncertainty,” said non-executive chair Julian Hanson-Smith.

“This reflects Mission’s strategic growth plan and progress to drive improved performance.”

Hanson-Smith said trading in the year-to-date was in line with expectations.

“The investments we have made as part of our plan mean Mission is well positioned for growth in 2023 and beyond.”

At 1505 BST, shares in the Mission Group were up 4.06% at 55.15p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.