LONDON (Alliance News) - Premier Technical Services Group PLC on Tuesday upped its interim payout but said profit decreased in the first half of 2018, hurt by higher costs.
The electrical testing services provider said pretax profit declined to GBP1.3 million in the six months to the end of June compared to GBP1.7 million reported for the same period a year ago, as operating costs jumped to GBP13.7 million from GBP9.2 million.
Revenue also rose to GBP30.2 million from GBP21.9 million year-on-year, helped by acquisitions.
In 2017, the company bought Nimbus Lightning Protection Ltd and Brook Edgley Ltd, which were integrated into Premier Technical's UK Lightning Protection division. The company also added UK Sprinklers Ltd, acquired in September last year, to its Fire Solutions division.
Premier Tech will pay an interim dividend of 0.9 pence per share, up 13% from 0.8p paid the year before.
"We remain both confident about continuing the positive revenue and profit momentum which is evident in the group's results for the first six months of 2018 and also enthusiastic about our prospects for the future," said Chairman John Foley.
The stock was trading 1.9% lower on Tuesday at 178.00p per share.