Next Fifteen Communications Group PLC (AIM:NFC) has made a strong start to the new financial year and expects another year of good organic growth.
The communications consultancy, which raised full-year guidance a couple of times towards the end of the financial year (to the end of January), saw a 36% increase in net revenue in the year to £362.1mln from £266.9mln the year before. Organic revenue growth clocked in at 26.1% with the group seeing healthy growth across all of its business segments.
Adjusted profit before tax soared 62% to £79.3mln from £49.1mlmn the year before while the reported loss before tax was £80.1mln compared to a loss the previous year of £1.3mln; the discrepancy between the two profit/loss figures was mostly caused by the significant anticipated increase in the Mach49 earn-out liability as a consequence of Mach49 winning an exceptionally large multi-year contract at the end of February 2022.
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The adjusted operating profit margin improved to 21.9% from 18.5%.
Net cash generated from operations increased by 27% year-on-year to £92.9mln and the group ended January with net cash of £35.7mln, since when the company has announced the acquisition of Engine UK.
The board is recommending the payment of a final dividend of 8.4p per share, which would represent a total dividend of 12p for the year. The final dividend represents an increase of 20% on the prior year.
The company said it has made a strong start to the new financial year, continuing the performance seen in the fourth quarter last year.
“While we are keeping a watchful eye on the geopolitical situation and macro-economic factors, we are pleased to report that we expect to deliver another year of strong organic revenue growth,” the company said.
Next Fifteen's chair, Penny Ladkin-Brand, said if 2020 was about being cautious in the face of the pandemic, “this last year has been about using the valuable lessons learned during that time to seize the very real opportunities in front of us”.
“In 2020 we reorganised the group around the challenge of how we help our customers grow. This year our net revenue growth has been impressive as a result. We delivered net revenue of £362.1m, a pleasing increase of 36%, of which 26% was organic. When you compare these figures against any major player in our sector, these are excellent results but our financial growth has been matched by significant steps to build a stronger, more resilient business model, capable of sustaining this strong growth in the future,” she said.