Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) share price rises as company reveals a fall in profits but a rise in revenues for its year ended December 2015
Share price in Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group (JLT) closed up today despite the company revealing a fall in profits in its preliminary results.
The company, which provides insurance, employee benefits and brokerage services, reported profits before tax of £155m for its year ended December 2015, a decrease of three per cent from £159.7m the year before, as planned investments pushed profits down.
However, the company's revenues were more positive, growing to £1.2bn, an increase of five per cent from £1.1bn the year before.
Shares in JLT closed up 4.1 per cent for the day at 829p.
The company called today's results a "resilient financial performance" despite a "challenging trading environment".
Dominic Burke, chief executive, added: "The group faces a number of external headwinds as we go into 2016. However, our focus remains on those factors that we can control and on maintaining the revenue momentum and cost control established over the last ten years. We remain confident in our strategy, our platform and our continued ability to grow."
JLT also boosted its total cash dividend to 30.6 pence per share, up six per cent compared to the year before, as the board remains confident in the company's underlying performance.
Analysts at Panmure Gordon & Co called today's results "solid", but cut their target share price from 997p to 860p because of concerns regarding the company's outlook in the medium and short term.