Today, Next 15 announced its interim results for the six months ended 31 July 2023.

Financial and Operational Highlights:

• Group net revenue growth of 5% to £286.4m and statutory revenue growth of 7%
• Adjusted profit before tax of £55.6m
• Statutory operating profit up 10% to £36.9m
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share of 37.9p and diluted earnings per share of 13.6p
• Interim dividend of 4.75p per share, representing an increase of 5%
• Plan to commence an initial share buy-back programme of up to £30m
• Net cash generated from operations up 35% to £24.8m
• Significant new client wins and expanded assignments with TikTok, Blizzard Entertainment and BBC 2

Current trading and outlook

The business continues to trade broadly in line with management expectations despite the macro-economic headwinds in certain markets.

Performance continues to be encouraging across all four business segments; underpinned by the integration of Engine which joined the Group in March 2022 and the significant growth of Mach49. We continue to win new client engagements, such as TikTok and BBC, giving us continued confidence for further growth in the year ahead. Whilst we remain mindful of the current economic and geopolitical backdrop, given the underlying strength of our businesses and operating model, we remain confident of delivering full year results broadly in line with management expectations.

The Group’s balance sheet and cash generation continue to provide scope for further investments both in the businesses and in M&A to accelerate our longer-term growth ambitions. We also plan to commence a share buy-back programme of up to £30m, allowing us to return excess cash to shareholders.

Please click here to see a breakdown of our interim results.

Commenting on the results, Chair of Next 15, Penny Ladkin-Brand said:

“After an exceptionally strong performance over the previous two years, particularly from our Tech clients, the solid performance in the year to date is testament to the strength of our brands and customer relationships.”

Tim Dyson, CEO of Next 15, said:

“I am very pleased with the Group’s performance, given the continued economic headwinds. It demonstrates the strength of our businesses and that our diversified, agile and de-centralised operating model works. This also gives me confidence that we will deliver another year of solid momentum.”

“We are acutely aware that the adoption of AI is going to disrupt and transform almost every business over the next few years. This presents significant long-term opportunities for the Group. We started investing in Machine Learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) several years ago. More recently we have initiated a series of groupwide projects to look for efficiencies in our operating models, new products and revenue streams to deepen the relationship with our clients and are actively harnessing our proprietary data to explore commercial opportunities. We will outline our latest perspectives on generative AI and some of the progress made on product development at a Capital Markets Day towards the end of October. Our ambition is to continue to deliver above-market growth and we are aiming to double the size of the business in the next five years."

You can watch Tim Dyson talk through the interim results in more detail below:

What happens when AI tools are in the hands of everybody? Is your business ready to seize the hidden opportunities?

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