REG - Diales PLC - Year End Trading Update

DialesAnnouncement

29/10/2024 07:00

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RNS Number : 9657J  Diales PLC  29 October 2024

 

RNS Number : 9657J

Diales Plc

29 October 2024

 

 

Diales Plc

("Diales" or "the Company" or "the Group")

Year End Trading Update

Diales Plc (AIM: DIAL), the leading global professional services consultancy
to the construction and engineering industries, providing multi-disciplinary
consultancy services including expert witness, claims and dispute resolution
services, today announces a trading update for the year ended 30 September
2024.

Trading update

The Group expects to report revenue from continuing operations in FY24 of
£43.0m (FY23: £42.6m). The Group expects to deliver an increased underlying*
operating profit, from continuing operations, in FY24 of not less than £1.1m
(FY23: £1.0m).

In June, the Company reported that it had experienced exceptional short-term
staffing issues in North America which had materially affected H1 FY24
performance in the region. As part of its updated strategy, the Board has now
made the decision to discontinue its existing operations in the USA and the
Company is currently agreeing the timing and mode of this with the management
team. Diales expects the transition of local commitments to current management
to be completed by the end of H1 FY25. Diales operations in Canada and in
South America managed from Spain, remain unaffected.

Financial position

The Group continues to have a robust balance sheet with a strong cash position
with an improvement in the September 2024 year end cash position to £4.3m
(March 2024: £3.6m).

Shareholder returns

The Board continues to return capital to shareholders by way of dividends and
the Group's on-going share buyback. The £0.250m share buyback programme
announced on 12 June 2024 is ongoing and, to date, the Company has purchased
660,000 shares, representing 71% of the initial funds allocated.

Mark Wheeler, Chief Executive Officer of Driver Group, commented:

'I am pleased to report that the implementation of our strategy continues at
pace. The delivery of our re-brand to Diales is now complete and this has been
well received by our clients. We have made good progress toward the delivery
of our new hub and spoke model. We continue to review opportunities to acquire
new talent, with some key hires in place and a pipeline of additional
expertise identified and actively under consideration. Feedback across the
business signals a positive outlook for this trading year.'

* Underlying figures are stated before the share-based payment costs and one
off non-recurring costs

ENDS

Enquiries:

 

 Driver Group plc                             020 7377 0005
 Mark Wheeler (CEO)
 Charlotte Parsons (CFO)

 Singer Capital Markets (Nomad & Broker)      020 7496 3000
 Sandy Fraser
 Jen Boorer

 Acuitas Communications                       020 3745 0293 / 07799 767676
 Simon Nayyar                                 simon.nayyar@acuitascomms.com
 Jake Davis                                   jake.davis@acuitascomms.com

 

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LAW BY VIRTUE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION (WITHDRAWAL) ACT 2018, AS AMENDED. ON
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