Next Fifteen's profits benefit from UK success

Next Fifteen Communications on Tuesday reported strong annual profit and revenue growth following an "exceptionally strong" performance in the UK.

For the year ended 31 January the digital communications agency recorded profit before tax of £18.8m, an increase of 42% compared to the year before, as revenue climbed by 16% to £272.4m thanks to a 41% increase in UK revenue to £109.2m.

Overall revenue growth was also driven by the Data & Analytics division, which recorded 60% growth to £33.8m, and the Creative Technology division, which recorded a 41% increase in revenue to £80.3m.

The Data & Analytics division acquired US-based lead generation agency, Activate, in November and also snapped up data science agency Planning-inc in January.

Meanwhile, the Brand Marketing division saw revenue increase just 1% to £158.3m as it merged its former Text and Bite agencies and relaunched them in February under the Archetype brand, merged the former Connections Media agency into OutCast and acquired Technical before merging it into Publitek.

Richard Eyre, chairman of Next Fifteen, said: "We are making great progress as the results demonstrate. Next Fifteen has evolved from a pure PR group into a data and technology-driven marketing group. There is more change to come as the industry continues to evolve and as our customers wrestle with the impact technology is having on their own business models."

The AIM traded company had cash and cash equivalents of £20.5m at the end of the year, down from £24.3m at the same point the year before, while its dividend per share increased from 6.30p to 7.56p

"We are excited about our future as we believe we have the right foundational platform of businesses, products, talent and customers to tackle the next stage in our evolution. Evolution that we see delivering further strong growth in the years ahead," said Eyre.

Next Fifteen Communications' shares were down 2.03% at 549.60p at 0909 BST.