Although we don’t believe in timing the market or panicking over every stock fluctuation, understanding how a business is performing, competing and changing is vital to sensible investment.
What: Shares of 4imprint (LSE: FOUR), the promotional products firm, rose by 11% to 767p in early trade after announcing third quarter revenue beat management’s expectations. Revenue was £66m (year-to-date: £182m), up 16% on the same period last year. The Direct Marketing business, which serves customers predominantly in North America, grew revenue by 27%.
So what: 4imprint said that growth was driven by “the rate of increase in marketing spend compared to last year”. Existing customers placed 25% more orders in the quarter, while orders from new customers also increased by 25%.
After today’s encouraging trading statement, the board expects it “will achieve a good result for the year as a whole”.
Now what: The board added that with effect from the FY2014 results announcement, 4imprint’s financial statements will be printed in US dollars. Future dividends will be determined in US dollars and paid in sterling at the exchange rate at the time the dividend is determined.
Prior to today, the City expected 4imprint to reveal a full year dividend of 18.6p per share. After this morning’s price movement the shares may offer a prospective income of 2.3%. Of course, the decision to ‘buy’ is entirely your own decision.
