Results round-up: McCarthy & Stone, BOS Global, Learning Technologies

Retirement housebuilder McCarthy & Stone bumped up its interim dividend 80% as it reported a 42% slump in underlying profits for the first half of the year but its confidence in hitting full year targets.

Furthermore, with FTSE 250 company enjoying a strong period of planning consents and it not only began building activity on 44 new sites by the end of March, up from 34 a year before, it also expected a further 16 or so by the end of the current quarter to enable it to double the number of sales releases in the 2018 financial year.

For the six months to 28 February, revenue was down 5% to £238.2m as the number of legal completions slipped 6% to 866, which the group had reported in a recent trading statement, as the gross average selling prices rose 1% to £260,000 the net selling price was flat.

Underlying profit before tax, which take account of exceptional costs and amortisation, tumbled 42% to £22.8m, with reported PBT falling 25% to £21.8m. Underlying basic earnings per share were also down 42% to 3.5p.

An interim dividend per share of 1.8p was announced, up from 1p last time.

The company said it had made good progress in recovering its workflow momentum following the outcome of the EU Referendum last June and reiterated guidance that the full year outturn was expected to deliver in line with market expectations

Chief executive Clive Fenton: "We have made solid progress during this half year despite the headwinds created by the lower forward order book brought into the year and the weighting of expected completions from higher margin new sites into the second half of the year.

"Trading conditions have remained stable during the period and underlying reservation rates continue to keep pace with the prior year despite the lower number of sales releases during the period."

BOS Global Holdings

Productivity and operational efficiency-focussed software provider BOS Global Holdings announced its interim results for the six months to 31 December on Wednesday, with revenue reducing to nil from $0.15m in the same period a year earlier, thanks to its reverse takeover maneuver.

The AIM-traded firm posted other income of $0.11m, however, up from $0.01m.

Its loss before income tax and loss for the period widened to $4.3m from $0.27m, with the company’s total comprehensive loss for the period being the same figure.

Basic and diluted losses per share were eight US cents, compared to 0.02 cents a year prior.

The board described the period as a “transformative” one following the completion of the reverse takeover of Forte Energy NL.

During the period, the company successfully launched two work optimisation software products, BOS Meet and BOS Automate, in December 2016 and January 2017 respectively, both of which already had over 200 seats subscribed for, with additional products in the pipeline.

It secured development, partnership and marketing agreements to facilitate a growing global presence, including a reseller agreement with an unspecified Australian multinational company.

BOS also confirmed a conditional agreement to acquire 40% of Call Design, a profitable provider of workforce optimisation tools focussed particularly on contact centre services, which has an established blue chip client base and operational presence in 26 countries offering cross-selling opportunities.

Learning Technologies Group

AIM-traded Learning Technologies Group announced its audited results for the year to 31 December on Wednesday, with revenue increasing to £28.3m from £19.9m - up 42%.

The company said recurring revenues increased to 27% from 10%, while revenues generated outside of the UK increased to 36% from 12%.

Adjusted EBITDA increased 77% to £7.7m, with the board reporting a “significantly” improved adjusted EBITDA margin of 27% - up from 22%.

The company’s statutory loss before tax was £1.2m, after accounting for acquisition-related deferred consideration as deemed remuneration.

Adjusted diluted earnings per share were up 57% at of 1.184p, and the board proposed a dividend for the full year of 0.21p per share, up 40% year-on-year.

It also claimed a “strong” balance sheet with shareholder equity of £30.7m, up from £25.1m a year earlier.

“2016 was another fantastic year for LTG during which we delivered strong revenue and profit growth as well as completing the acquisition of Rustici Software and investment in Watershed Systems,” said CEO Jonathan Satchell.

“LTG is very well placed in its digital learning segment of the global corporate training market and it is pleasing to see that recurring revenues increased to 27% and revenues outside of the UK to 36%.”

Chairman Andrew Brode said the group enjoyed a “strong start” to 2017 and was trading in line with management expectations, significantly ahead of last year.

“We expect the current financial year to benefit from a healthy order book, increased sales resulting from our compelling blended learning capability and continuing strong margins.