Financial Metrics
Key Financial Metrics
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£827.0m REVENUE (HALF YEAR 2024)
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+1% ORGANIC REVENUE GROWTH (HALF YEAR 2024)
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£160.3m ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT (HALF YEAR 2024)
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-1% ORGANIC ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT GROWTH (HALF YEAR 2024)
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19.4% ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT MARGIN (HALF YEAR 2024)
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3% INCREASE IN TOTAL ORDINARY DIVIDEND (HALF YEAR 2024)
10-year financial history
We have an excellent track record, delivering a consistently strong financial performance, achieving underlying revenue growth.
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £1,682.6m |
£1,610.6m |
£1,344.5m | £1,193.4m | £1,242.4m |
| Operating profit | £284.4m | £318.8m | £320.9m | £249.0m | £245.0m |
| Adjusted operating profit* | £349.1m | £380.2m | £340.3m | £270.4m | £282.7m |
| Adjusted operating profit margin | 20.7% | 23.6% | 25.3% | 22.7% | 22.8% |
| Profit before taxation | £244.5m | £308.1m | £314.5m | £240.1m | £236.8m |
| Adjusted profit before taxation* | £309.2m | £370.6m | £333.9m | £261.5m | £274.5m |
| Profit after taxation | £184.0m | £225.0m | £234.9m | £173.9m | £167.0m |
| Adjusted cash from operations | £281.7m | £214.9m | £277.7m | £275.8m | £238.1m |
| Cash conversion | 80.7% | 56.5% | 82.0% | 102.0% | 84.2% |
| Capital expenditure to sales†† | 6.3% | 7.3% | 4.8% | 4.2% | 5.0% |
| Basic earnings per share | 249.5p | 305.1p | 318.3p | 235.5p | 226.2p |
| Adjusted earnings per share* | 312.4p | 377.2p | 338.9p | 256.6p | 265.7p |
| Dividends in respect of the year | £117.8m | £112.0m | £100.2m | £87.0m | £81.1m |
| Dividends in respect of the year (per share) | 160.0p | 152.0p | 136.0p | 118.0p | 110.0p |
| Special dividend per share | - | - | - | - | |
| Net assets | £1,157.7m | £1,169.8m | 1,010.0m | £852.3m** | £826.3m |
| Return on capital employed† | 41.6% | 53.3% | 59.3% | 48.9%** | 52.5% |
| Return on invested capital† | 14.0% | 19.0% | 22.9% | 17.8%** | 19.0% |
| 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £1,153.3m | £998.7m | £757.4m | £667.2m | £678.3m |
| Operating profit | £299.1m | £198.9m | £174.1m | £142.8m | £148.1m |
| Adjusted operating profit* | £264.9m | £235.5m | £180.6m | £152.4m | £153.0m |
| Adjusted operating profit margin | 23.0% | 23.6% | 23.8% | 22.8% | 22.5% |
| Profit before taxation | £288.8m | £192.5m | £171.4m | £139.7m | £144.8m |
| Adjusted profit before taxation | £254.6m | £229.1m | £177.9m | £151.1m | £151.1m |
| Profit after taxation | £223.4m | £157.9m | £121.3m | £96.7m | £100.6m |
| Adjusted cash from operations | £242.9m | £203.8m | £185.0m | £146.2m | £131.5m |
| Cash conversion | 91.7% | 86.5% | 102.4% | 95.9% | 85.9% |
| Capital expenditure to sales†† | 3.8% | 3.8% | 5.7% | 5.0% | 5.0% |
| Basic earnings per share | 303.1p | 214.4p | 165.0p | 129.9p | 132.8p |
| Adjusted earnings per share* | 250.0p | 220.5p | 171.5p | 142.6p | 140.4p |
| Dividends in respect of the year | £73.6m | £64.4m | £55.8m | £50.6m | £139.9m |
| Dividends in respect of the year (per share) | 100.0p | 87.5p | 76.0p | 69.0p | 64.5p |
| Special dividend per share | - | - | - | - | 120.0p |
| Net assets | £766.9m | £609.5m | £524.4m | £398.3m | £441.9m |
| Return on capital employed† | 51.6% | 49.8% | 44.8% | 41.1% | 41.4% |
| Return on invested capital† | 19.3% | 22.6% | 28.7% | 27.1% | 27.4% |
* All adjusted profit measures exclude certain items as set out and explained in the Financial Review and in the Appendix to the Financial Statements.
** 2020 has been restated following the IFRS Interpretations Committee agenda decision on configuration and customisation costs in cloud computing arrangements (Software as a Service (SaaS)), see Note 1 to the Financial Statements for further details.
† The results for 2019 to 2023 exclude the impacts of IFRS 16, which was adopted in 2019.
†† Capital expenditure excludes IFRS 16 Lease repayments.