Glasgow’s Iomart tops £112m revenue, pays dividend

Iomart CEO Angus MacSween

Glasgow-based cloud computing firm Iomart Group plc said on Wednesday its revenue rose 9% to £112.6 million in the year to March 31, 2020, and profit before tax increased 4% to £16.8 million.

On its dividend, Iomart said: “Our dividend policy, which has been in place for several years now, is based on the profitability of the business in the period.

“We have committed to a pay-out policy of up to 40% of the adjusted diluted earnings per share we deliver in a financial year. 

“This year we paid an interim dividend of 2.60p (2019: 2.45p) which was paid in January 2020.

“We have now proposed a final dividend payment of 3.93p per share (2019: 5.01p) which would result in a total dividend for the year of 6.53p (2019: 7.46p) representing a pay-out ratio of 40% of the adjusted diluted earnings per share for the year. 

“The board has taken the decision to pay a final dividend to shareholders as a result of the recurring revenue nature of the group, the level of operating cash which we now deliver and the low level of indebtedness within the group.

“Should the impact of Covid-19 increase in the year ahead, the board will keep the level of future dividend payment under review. 

“However, it should be noted the group has not, to date, utilised any of the government furlough schemes and therefore believes that there is no impediment in this respect to paying a dividend to shareholders.”

Iomart CEO Angus MacSween said: “This is the twelfth consecutive year of growth since the transition of the business to cloud services in 2008 with the acquisition of our first data centres.

“Since that time, revenues and profits have grown considerably, with revenue reaching £112.6m, through the combination of continued organic growth and acquisitions. 

“As we look forward to the next stage of growth, we do so with our teams all working remotely and the world around us considerably changed due to the global impact of Covid-19. Our focus must be first and foremost on the well being of our people, all of whom have risen to the challenge fantastically, for which I and the Board are extremely grateful.

“Together we have built a strong, resilient business, providing mission critical infrastructure to a wide spread of customers across diverse industries.

“This resilience will serve us well as we progress through the months ahead.

“The switch to remote working across the world has only accelerated the move to the cloud which we believe will be a growth driver for our business over the longer term. 

“Our high levels of recurring revenues, breadth of customer base, industry leading profit margins and strong cash generation, mean we are confident iomart is well positioned to withstand the current challenges and deliver long-term growth.”