Nairobi Securities Exchange listed marketing and communications firm WPP Scangroup has posted a 38.5% jump in half year Profit before tax of Ksh 395 Million compared to Ksh 285 Million posted in a similar period in 2015. The company says its wholly owned subsidiaries contributed to most of the profits.
Major Highlights.
- Sales revenue rose by 10.9% to KSh 2.5 billion with 40% of this contributed by its subsidiaries outside Kenya.
- After tax profit rose by 35% to Ksh 249.6 million against KSh 185.3 million posted in a similar period in 2015.
- Costs of operations was up by 6.1% to KSh2.40 billion Versus KSh 2.26 billion posted in half year of 2015. The management says it will continue to monitor the costs to ensure increase in costs is more than matched with additional revenue.
- Interest income was up by 23% (Ksh 44 Million) to Ksh 237.9 Million and the management said this was a result of fixed deposits negotiated at higher interest rates which were prevailing at the end of 2015.
- Earnings Per Share increased by 52% to Ksh 0.66.
- The company’s total assets currently valued at Ksh 14 Billion, a growth of 12% from last year’s Ksh 12.46 Billion.
Related; EABL profits up by 7% to Ksh 10.3 Billion, driven by recovery of Senator
Future Outlook & Dividends
The company expects strong growth in the second half of the year given that the first half showed very decent returns. However, the board did not recommend an interim dividend.
Share Price
At the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the company’s share price was trading at a 52-week low in the range of Ksh 15.00 to Ksh 17.00 during Thursday’s trading session. Over the last 12 months, the share price is down by over 50% as shown in the chart below.
About WPP Scangroup;
WPP-Scangroup is a subsidiary of WPP and is the only marketing services firm listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange.The group has presence in 25 countries in Sub Saharan Africa.)
