Driver shares up as swings to profit via cost cuts; outlook optimistic

(Alliance News) - Driver Group PLC on Thursday reported a swing to an annual profit as cost of sales fell at a faster pace than revenue.

The Lancashire, England-based professional services company that offers consultancy to construction and engineering industries said it swung to a pretax profit of GBP439,000 in the financial year ended September 30, from a loss of GBP2.0 million a year prior.

Revenue declined 5.4% to GBP42.6 million from GBP45.1 million, but cost of sales decreased by 11% to GBP31.8 million from GBP35.6 million. What's more, administrative expenses were cut by 7.5% to GBP10.5 million from GBP11.3 million.

The company declared an unchanged final dividend of 0.75 pence per share, bringing the total payout to an unchanged 1.5p.

Looking ahead, Driver said that "a number of significant commissions were secured in Q4 underpinning confidence in outlook." It expects its cost reduction programme to complete by the end of 2023, anticipating "full positive benefits of a lower and leaner cost base to flow into 2024".

Driver shares were up 8.0% to 27.55 pence each midday Thursday in London.

By Tom Budszus, Alliance News slot editor

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