Mission Marketing ups dividend after 'very decent year'

Communications and advertising group the Mission Marketing Group saw revenue and profits move ahead in what its chairman called a "very decent year".

Mission's pre-tax profits came in at £7.7m in the year ended 31 December, a 10% increase on the previous trading year, boosted, in part, by a 6% uptick in revenue of £65.9m and the firm's success in lowering its total debt position.

Diluted earnings per share grew 11% to 7.12p.

David Morgan, Mission's chairman, said, "Whichever way we look at it, 2017 was a very decent year for the Mission. Most of our agencies performed exceptionally, we reduced our debt significantly, made a strategic acquisition and maintained our progressive dividend policy all against a market backdrop of uncertainty and challenge."

In a separate announcement, Mission announced that it had acquired award-winning creative agency Krow Communications for an initial consideration of £2.75m, to be satisfied in cash.

AIM-quoted Mission expects the acquisition of the London-based agency to be immediately earnings enhancing.

"We will benefit from the contribution of newly-acquired Krow Communications, announced today, and we also expect to see an improvement in margins as our various initiatives kick in. All in all, we expect 2018 to be a year of strong growth," Morgan added.

Mission also announced a full year dividend of 1.7p, up 13% year-on-year.

As of 0940 BST, shares had collected 8.57% to 49.40p.