Financial Highlights
Total revenue up 6% to £591.6m
Organic revenue growth of 2%
Reported PBT increased 3% to £101.5m
Underlying PBT decreased by 10% to £96.3m, impacted by cost of US investment
Reported diluted EPS up 11% to 33.6p
Underlying diluted EPS down 10% to 30.2p
Underlying profit margin decreased to 17.3% from 19.7%, impacted by cost of US investment
Increased interim dividend of 11.1p up 4.7%
Operational and Strategic Highlights
Organic revenue growth in the period of 2%, lower than recent years as a result of:
o Shift in phasing of revenues and trading profit between the two halves of the year
o Reduction in commission payments within UK Employee Benefits
o Ongoing challenging rating environment
Full year organic revenue growth anticipated to be in line with previous year
Encouraging progress with build-out of US Specialty business
Acquired 5 new businesses and continued to invest in talent - 530 new colleagues joined the Group in the period
Disposed of stake in Siaci St Honoré for £80.2m
Dominic Burke, Chief Executive, commented:
We are pleased with the Group's underlying growth momentum and with the strong progress we are making in building out our US Specialty operations, creating a powerful platform for future growth for the whole Group. As anticipated, however, the cost of the US expansion is weighing against our short-term profitability. A one-off structural shift away from commissions within the UK employee benefits market is having an impact on our UK Employee Benefits margin and the Group's profit for the year.
We remain confident that our full year organic revenue growth will be in line with the previous year. As we look forward, the business is well-positioned to deliver sustainable earnings growth.
