Softcat increases its 2017 interim dividend by 70%

DividendMax Ltd.

Softcat increases its 2017 interim dividend by 70%

Highlights for the six months to 31 January 2017

Gross profit up 14.1% to £61.3m (H1 2016: £53.7m)

Adjusted operating profit up 9.4% to £21.4m (H1 2016: £19.5m)

Excluding the one-off prior year procurement benefit (FY 2016: £3.4m, H1 2016: £1.6m), gross profit and adjusted operating profit growth were 17.5% (H1 2016: +11.7%) and 16.4% (H1 2016: +6.1%), respectively

Operating profit up 36.3% to £20.9m, assisted by the absence of IPO costs in the current period

Cash conversion was 112% (defined as cash flow from operations before tax but after capital expenditure, as a percentage of operating profit - H1 2016: 142%)

The Company remains debt free with a cash balance of £46.6m

Customer numbers up 8.7% (H1 2016: 6.7%), the fastest rate of customer growth since H1 2014, reflecting the investment in the sales force over the past 18 months

Adjusted diluted earnings per share up 6.1% from 8.2p to 8.7p

Interim dividend of 2.9p per share (H1 2016: 1.7p) to be paid on 28 April 2017

Martin Hellawell, Softcat CEO, commented:

"We are very pleased to report another set of strong results. Growth in gross profit, our primary measure of income, was 14.1%. The Company has made significant investments in new sales, services and technical resource over the past 18 months and the return on those investments is evident in our latest figures. As a result, we are pleased to announce the payment of an interim dividend of 2.9p per share, in line with the policy set out at the time of our IPO.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all Softcat employees for their continued dedication to delivering outstanding customer service and shareholder value, and to our customers for their continuing business and loyalty.

The Board is confident of meeting its expectations for the full year. Whilst trading in the first six weeks of the second half has been strong, we have some important months ahead and we remain focussed on the job in hand."

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