Costain Group COST is enjoying exciting times as the countries energy, water and transport infrastructure continues to be upgraded. The interim dividend is to be increased by 15% to 4.3p after revenue for the half year to 30th June rose by nearly 25%. The half year ended with a record order book, 90% of which was repeat business.
Paddy Power Betfair PPB Online half year revenue rose by 20% and total revenue by 18%. merger integration is ahead of plan but merger related items led to an operating loss of £48m. and a loss per share of 68.3p Underlying operating profit however was up by 39% and underlying EBITDA by 31%. an interim dividend of 40p per share is to be paid.
WPP plc WPP After exceptional write downs interim profit before tax slumped by 40.1% and profit after tax by 53.1%. On a headline basis however, reported PBT was up by over 15%. Billings rose by 9.3% and revenue by 11.9%. Like for like net sales grew by 3.8% and the interim dividend is to be raised by 22.9% to 19.55p.
Headlam Group HEAD enjoyed a strong first half to the 30th June and is increasing its interim dividend by 11.7% to 6.7p.It made further gains in market share in the UK where it outperformed and saw an improving trend on the continent. Profit before tax rose by 22.4% and basic earnings per share by 23.1%
Hikma Pharmaceutical HIK claims a solid first half performance which saw operating profit fall by 27% on revenue up by 28%. Basic earnings per share were down by 49% and the interim dividend is being maintained at 11 cents per share.
Goldplat GDP has put in a strong financial performance for its year end at the 30th June thanks to the recovery in the price of gold and the collapse in sterling. A full year profit before tax of £2m. is now expected.