HRG announce preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2011
Financial Highlights
* Revenue 10% higher at £358m (up 7% at constant currency)
* Underlying profit before tax up 16% to £32.9m
* Underlying EPS up 16% to 7.3p
* Net debt down £16m to £61m; equivalent to 1.2x underlying EBITDA(1) (2010: 1.7x); net external interest cover 11.2x (2010: 13.9x)
* Pension deficit down £12m to £115m
* Full refinancing completed, with £190m committed until November 2014 and £30m repayable by November 2018
* Final dividend up by 25% to 1.0p per share; full-year dividend up 25% to 1.5p per share with dividend cover of 4.9x (2010: 5.3x)
Operational Highlights
* Client travel transaction activity up 17% (2010: down 3%)
* Client travel spend up 23%, up 20% at constant currency (2010: down 17% at constant currency)
* Revenue per employee up 7% at constant currency
* Client retention rate remains above 90% and continued net new business wins
* Continuing investment in technology with emphasis on mobile applications
* Strong pipeline across multiple client sectors