The Vitec Board has declared an interim dividend of 11.0 pence per share (H1 2020: nil, H1 2019: 12.3p). The dividend will be paid on Friday, 29 October 2021 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on Friday, 24 September 2021. The Board's objective is for a progressive and sustainable dividend and believes it is appropriate for the Group to target a total dividend cover of 2.0-2.5 times adjusted EPS. The Company has sufficient distributable reserves to cover future dividend payments for a number of years.
Other financial highlights include:
Continued strong trading across the Group driven by a faster-growing market, with underlying order intake up 12% compared with H1 2019
Adjusted operating margin improvement, driven by strong operating leverage
Excellent cash performance with high operating cash conversion at 118%
Expanded addressable markets and increased higher technology capabilities through acquisitions of Lightstream and Quasar
