LONDON (Alliance News) - Corporate services provider Hogg Robinson Group PLC on Tuesday said pretax profit grew in its recently completed financial year despite revenue falling, prompting the company to push its dividend payout higher.
Hogg Robinson said pretax profit for the year to the end of March grew 15% year-on-year to GBP26.7 million from GBP23.2 million, despite a small decline in revenue to GBP318.3 million from GBP330.1 million.
The growth in profit was driven by Fraedom, the group's software-as-a-service unit for the business travel market. Revenue for Fraedom grew 13% in the year, and underlying operating profit, in constant currencies, rose 75%.
Elsewhere in the business, the decline in revenue was driven by weakness in Europe and Asia Pacific. Hogg Robinson said it expects the European market to remain variable in the coming year and Asia Pacific to stay soft, with similar conditions to prevail in the UK and North American travel markets.
Hogg also said it expects revenue for its travel management arm will remain under pressure due to aggressive pricing by competitors, but does anticipate more revenue growth from Fraedom.
The company declared a final dividend of 1.83 pence, up 8.0% year-on-year, taking its total payout for the year up by the same percentage to 2.51p.
Hogg Robinson shares were untraded early Tuesday, having last traded at 70.00p.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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