FDM Group ends year in line with expectations

IT consulting provider FDM Group said in a trading update on Wednesday that it performed “well” in the second half of 2021, with its UK and Asia-Pacific operations showing the highest growth in the number of ‘Mounties’, or consultants, deployed.

The FTSE 250 company said it expected its financial performance for the year ended 31 December to be “comfortably” in line with its expectations.

Revenue for the year was expected to be flat year-on-year at £267.4m, but up 2% on a constant currency basis.

The group's balance sheet remained “strong”, FDM said, with closing cash balances of £53.1m, down from £64.7m a year earlier, after dividend payments of £46.8m made during the year, up from £20.1m.

FDM said it had no debt at year-end on 31 December.

The group ended the year with 4,033 Mounties placed with clients, which was a year-on-year increase of 13%.

Its UK operations closed with 1,806 Mounties deployed, up from 1,574, while North America ended the year with 1,095 Mounties deployed, compared to 1,086 at the end of 2020.

The board described a “continuing good performance” from Canadian operations and a “more subdued” performance in the US, where it was introducing a number of new initiatives in a bid to better respond to strong levels of demand for Mounties.

FDM said its Asia-Pacific geography closed with 880 Mounties deployed, up from 633, and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) closed with 252 Mounties deployed, down from 287 a year earlier, after the completion of a major client project in Luxembourg during the second half.

Demand for Mounties was strong across the majority of markets, the company said.

To meet that demand growth, 2,410 Mounties were trained during the year, up from 1,341 training completions in 2020 and 2,115 in 2019.

The board said that was the highest number of training completions in group history, with the firm ending the year with a record number in training.

“FDM made good progress in 2021, performing comfortably in line with the Board's expectations,” said chief executive officer Rod Flavell.

“The group continued with its significant investment in academy transformation and accreditation programmes to underpin the future growth of the business, and the numbers of Mounties trained during the year and of trainees at the year-end were both a record high.

“As we enter the current year our client engagement remains very high, demand for Mounties in all territories is robust and we are achieving pleasing levels of deal volumes.”

Flavell said that in 2022, the company was targeting a “significant increase” in the numbers of Mounties it was training and deploying.

“We plan to accelerate our internal staff recruitment and our internal development programmes, with a particular focus on our sales and Academy training teams.

“Our international expansion continues, including good activity levels in our nascent location of Poland.

“The group is well placed to deliver a good performance in 2022 and long-term growth thereafter.”

FDM said it would publish its results for the year ended 31 December on 17 March.

At 0943 GMT, shares in FDM Group Holdings were up 1.29% at 1,100p.