Investor appetite for Charles Taylor (LSE: CTR) has taken off in recent sessions, the stock touching record peaks of 300p just this week.
Demand has been boosted by its interims of late August. The company — which provides professional services to the insurance sector — advised that revenues advanced a chunky 7% during January-June to £74m. The result propelled pre-tax profit 4.2% higher, to £6m.
And last month’s results provided further encouragement to income chasers. Charles Taylor saw net cash leap an eye-watering 80.6% in the first half, to £3.3m, prompting the firm to hike the interim dividend 5% to 3.15p per share.
With recent acquisition activity and new product launches helping to drum up business, the City expects Charles Taylor to enjoy earnings growth of 7% and 13% in 2016 and 2017.
Consequently Charles Taylor is anticipated to hike the full-year payout from 10p per share in 2015 to 10.4p this year and 11p in 2017. These projections yield a handsome 3.5% and 3.7% respectively, while dividend coverage for these years rings in at an exceptional two times and 2.2 times.
I believe the financial play is a great selection for those seeking reliable payout growth year after year.
Jobs giant
Recruitment giant SThree (LSE: STHR) hasn’t enjoyed the same share price success of Charles Taylor in recent times, however.
Concerns over the Brexit impact on SThree’s revenues have caused the stock’s value to slide 29% since June’s referendum. And mixed financials released today add some fuel to these fears.
SThree announced that total gross profit dipped 2% in the three months to August, to £66m, with profits in the UK falling 9% year-on-year. The recruiter blamed a slowdown in the banking and finance sector, as well as the result of the summer’s EU vote, in denting performance at home.
And SThree also encountered troubles in the US. Gross profits here sank 10% from the corresponding 2015 quarter as the firm’s financial and energy units struggled. But on the plus side, SThree’s strong momentum in Continental Europe continued, and gross profits here surged 12% during June-August.
Chief executive Gary Elden remains bullish over SThree’s outlook, commenting today that “the continued momentum of our Contract business, the strength of our performance in Continental Europe and the benefit of restructuring measures taken earlier in the year, leave us well-positioned for our seasonally most significant fourth quarter.” And expectations for the full-year remain intact.
The number crunchers have confidence that SThree can ride out ay near-term troubles — earnings dips of 2% and 8% are pencilled-in for the periods to November 2016 and 2017 respectively — and keep paying out generous dividends, particularly as the firm’s debt pile is falling and its pan-global presence provides plenty of long-term growth potential.
As such, rewards of 14.1p and 14.3p per share are expected this year and next, figures that yield 5.6% and 5.7%.
