DMGT shares (LON:DMGT) were up on Thursday after the owner of the Daily Mail reported a rise in profits in its full year results.
Shares in the company were over 4% higher during Thursday morning trading.
DMGT said that, for the year ended 30 September 2019, adjusted profit before tax rose 19% on an underlying basis to £145 million.
Meanwhile, revenue amounted to £1.4 billion, with an underlying growth of 2%.
Additionally, the company said that its financial performance in 2020 will reflect “the significant portfolio changes over the past year”.
DMGT, which recently purchased the i newspaper for £49.6 million, expects group revenue for the 2020 financial year to be broadly stable on an underlying basis.
“DMGT has delivered a robust financial performance, achieving 2% underlying revenue growth and 10% underlying cash operating income growth. Consumer Media outperformed the market and there was a mixed performance across our B2B businesses, consistent with our expectations,” Paul Zwillenberg, CEO, commented on the results.
“We have continued to deliver successfully against our three strategic priorities of increasing portfolio focus, improving operational execution and maintaining financial flexibility,” the CEO continued.
“Over the last three years, we have moved from ten sectors to five, from 40 operating companies to eight and from net debt of £679m and a debt:EBITDA ratio of 1.8 to pro forma net cash of nearly £250m. In April 2019, we returned almost £900m of capital to our shareholders in the form of Euromoney shares and a £200m special dividend.”
Paul Zwillenberg said: “We will continue with our active portfolio management approach, focusing on those assets that have the potential to drive good returns through strong cash flow generation and growth in capital value. We are now in the next phase of the Group’s transformation, optimising our business through targeted and disciplined investment whilst maintaining significant financial flexibility to enhance shareholder value. The recent acquisition of the ‘i’ demonstrates the opportunities we have to invest in high quality, content-led businesses with a compelling strategic and financial rationale.”
Shares in Daily Mail and General Trust plc (LON:DMGT) were up on Thursday, trading at +3.67% as of 10:13 GMT.
