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Investing.com -- ME Group International plc (LSE:MEGP) shares rose over 1% on Tuesday after record first-half profitability for the six months ended April 30, 2025, with profit before tax rising 13.3% to £34.0 million.
The instant-service equipment group reported revenue growth of 2.3% to £153.8 million compared to the same period last year. On a constant currency basis, revenue increased by 4.7%.
The strong performance was primarily driven by the company’s laundry operations, which saw revenue increase by 17.7% to £51.9 million. Revolution vending revenue grew by 13.3% to £46.7 million, or 15.8% at constant currency.
ME Group’s EBITDA rose 3.9% to £53.2 million, with EBITDA margin improving by 0.5 percentage points to 34.6%.
Profit before tax margin increased by 2.2 percentage points to 22.1%, which the company attributed to disciplined cost control and operational leverage.
The company made strategic progress on its growth initiatives, deploying 523 net Revolution units in the first half.
ME Group remains on track to install a total of 1,200 net Revolution units and 3,200 next-generation photobooths in 2025.
Cash generated from operations grew by 14.1% to £47.6 million. The company ended the period with gross cash of £74.9 million and net cash of £36.2 million, after making loan repayments totaling £11.0 million during the first half.
Diluted earnings per share increased 12.8% to 6.74 pence. The company declared an interim dividend of 3.85 pence per ordinary share, up 11.6% from the previous year, which will return £14.5 million to shareholders.
Serge Crasnianski, CEO and Deputy Chairman, said: "We are pleased to report record trading momentum in the first half, driven by a strong performance from our rapidly growing laundry operations."
Looking ahead, ME Group confirmed it remains on track to deliver fiscal year 2025 profit before tax between £76 million and £80 million, in line with previous guidance.
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