Staffline Group (337.5p and 2% of the JIC portfolio). Results for the year ended December 2012 were published this morning and seem to be a little ahead of expectations. Turnover came in at £367m against expectations in the region of £348m, Pre-tax profits were up slightly at £10.3m compared to £10.1m in 2011, adjusted earnings per share came in at 35.9p v 35.1p in 2011 and the dividend in
"a sign of confidence in both our business and the markets in which we operate",
was increased by 14% to 8.1p. Net debt declined slightly to £4.6m from £4.9m in December 2011.
The Chief Executive's statement was upbeat saying that;
"the first 7 weeks of trading have started strongly and we have developed an excellent pipeline from new and existing customers for the first half of 2013. Our new business pipeline continues to grow as clients increasingly search for best in class staffing solutions both from a regulatory and business perspective. I am therefore confident that the Group will enjoy another year of substantial and profitable growth in 2013."
Conclusion. I only bought the holding last week when it showed up in my ValueGrowthMomentum screen on Stockopedia. In my view the shares look great value. On consensus earnings forecasts the shares are valued at 8.5x 2013 earnings for 15% growth and only 7x 2014 earnings for 20% growth. A reasonable and growing yield is forecast of 2.8% for 2013 and 3.3% for 2014. Happy holder!
