LONDON (Alliance News) - Cello Health PLC on Thursday said its profit increased in 2018 due to a reduction in third party contract costs, while it has also hiked its dividend.
Revenue for 2018 was GBP165.6 million, down 2.8% from GBP170.3 million in 2017, due to tough trading conditions in the UK and the full year impact of the reduction in its US presence in 2017.
However, the healthcare-focused advisory company recorded a pretax profit of GBP8.4 million, up 45% from GBP5.8 million.
This was largely a result of third-party project costs, which fell to GBP60.8 million from GBP67.8 million and resulted in a net revenue increase to GBP104.8 million from GBP102.5 million.
Earnings per share rose 53% to 6.27 pence from 4.09p.
The company has proposed a final dividend of 3.75p per share, giving a total dividend per share for 2018 of 3.85p, up 10% from 3.50p in 2017.
In 2018, the company renamed itself as Cello Health from Cello Group PLC to reflect its healthcare focus. In 2019, the company will invest in new initiatives and focus on growing its US presence.
Cello Health said it already has good levels of forward bookings for 2019 and has "secured a good number of business wins". Its 2019 performance is thus expected to meet market expectations.
Chief Executive Mark Scott said: "2018 marked an important moment in Cello's development as we changed our name to Cello Health to reflect our ongoing strategic focus and developed our board to support that strategy.
"It is pleasing to see strong earnings per share growth and we have accordingly increased our dividend for the thirteenth successive year. We now intend to build on this momentum to support Cello Health's position as a leading healthcare focused advisory group globally."
Shares in Cello Health were down 0.5% at 122.92 pence on Thursday morning.
