- Knights Group said its underlying pre-tax profits will grow to at least £25m
- It also predicts net debt will rise by around £6m to £35.2m due to acquisitions.
Result: “Our people have performed well over the year,” said Knights Group chief executive David Beech (pictured).
Legal and professional services firm Knights Group expects to report double-digit profit growth over the latest financial year.
The London-listed company said its underlying pre-tax profits will have grown 16 percent to at least £25 million for the year ending April, while revenue is forecast to have risen 6 percent to around £150 million.
It also predicts net debt will rise by around £6m to £35.2m due to the acquisitions of St James’ Square and Baines Wilson, and another payment related to the joint venture with sales advisory firm Convex Corporate Finance. .
All three firms are based in the north of England, where Knights has significantly expanded its presence in recent years.
Knights told investors it was “well positioned to consider selective acquisitions of its healthy pipeline of opportunities” after improving its operating platform during the year.
Its new chairman, Dave Wilson, oversaw 14 acquisitions while holding senior roles, including chief financial officer and deputy chief executive, at fraud prevention specialist GB Group.
David Beech, chief executive of Knights, said: ‘Our people have performed well over the year.
“We continue to execute our growth strategy, recruiting high-quality talent and driving operational improvements across the business, positioning ourselves well for further growth.”
Knights Group Holdings Stock It jumped 8.1 per cent to 153p after the trading update and has soared around 62 per cent over the past year.
However, shares remained at less than half their levels in March 2022, when the company warned of a slowdown in corporate work and admitted that remote work was hurting trading.
In January, the company revealed that it had returned to organic revenue growth in the six months ending in October due to strong results in non-cyclical fields such as private wealth and dispute resolution.
It further announced that pre-tax profits rose by more than two-thirds to £6.9 million along with a 5 per cent increase in its interim dividend to 1.61 pence per share.
Since then, Knights has seen the time it takes for a business to receive payment from one of its clients reduce from 31 days to 28 days.
The group plans to provide a broader trading update when it publishes its annual results in January.