Financial highlights
- Revenue up 11% to £153.9 million (H1 20161: £138.2 million)
- Underlying operating profit2 up 23% to £102.3 million (H1 2016: £83.0 million)
- Operating profit up 21% to £100.6 million (H1 2016: £82.9 million)
- Underlying operating profit margin up 6% pts to 66% (H1 2016: 60%)
- Basic EPS up 28% to 7.65p per share (H1 2016: 5.98p)
- Operating cash flow3 up 17% to £100.8 million (H1 2016: £86.0 million)
- Net external debt down £33.1 million to £359.5 million (March 2016: £392.6 million), representing a reduction in leverage6 to 1.8x (March 2016: 2.2x)
- Interim dividend declared of 1.7p per share to be paid in January 2017 (H1 2016: 0.5p per share)
- Rolling programme of share buy-backs commenced and set to continue for the rest of the year, with 12.8 million shares purchased during the first half at a total cost of £48.9 million (including expenses)
- Change from 52-week to annual accounting period will add five trading days to the current financial year
