(Alliance News) - Emis Group PLC on Wednesday said annual profit declined slightly as a result of reorganisation costs, which were not incurred the year before.
Shares in Emis were down 8.4% at 760.00 pence in London in morning trading.
The healthcare software and services firm reported a GBP27.1 million pretax profit for 2019, a 3.6% decline from the previous year's GBP28.1 million profit.
While Emis's revenue rose 6.5% to GBP159.5 million from GBP149.7 million, it incurred GBP5.4 million of reorganisation costs compared to no such costs in 2018. These costs "relate to redundancy and restructuring costs, including property exit costs".
Emis has proposed a 15.6 pence per share final dividend, lifting the total for the year by 9.9% to 31.2p from 28.4p.
So far, Emis's trading in 2020 has aligned with its expectations, but it expects "some limited short-term business revenue delay" as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chief Executive Andy Thorburn said: "Emis Group has a robust business model, with 78% recurring revenue and a strong balance sheet, and is well positioned to weather the short-term market uncertainties created by coronavirus. We have no delivery risks associated with our recurring revenue. We're focused on looking after our Emis Group colleagues and supporting our customers as they take care of the population through the coronavirus challenges.
"As a resilient and dynamic business, the group will focus on delivering its strategic plan of innovation and growth beyond the immediate market uncertainty."
By Anna Farley; annafarley@alliancenews.com
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