Equipment rental specialist Vp's full year revenues increase on back of 'solid' demand

In the year ended March 31 2023, VP’s adjusted profit before tax, amortisation, impairment of intangible assets and exceptional items rose by 4 per cent to £40.5m.

Commenting on the results, Jeremy Pilkington, chairman of Vp, said: “We are pleased to report another solid year of trading with good progress made across all key metrics, with the group successfully navigating a highly volatile macroeconomic backdrop.

"The group’s return on average capital employed of 14.4 per cent continues to demonstrate our excellent quality of earnings and resilience in times of supply chain disruption and slowing growth in some markets.

"In line with our dividend policy and underpinning our confidence in the business, we are pleased to propose a final dividend of 26.5 pence per share, making a total for the year of 37.5 pence.

“We remain confident that the group will continue to provide shareholders with an attractive level of returns. Vp has an excellent track record and we believe the current market challenges will bring into view profitable growth opportunities.”

Neil Stothard, chief executive of Vp plc, added: “Despite the macro-economic conditions that continue to impact some of our core markets, we are pleased that our performance has remained consistent and in line with the board’s expectations.

“Our revenue rose by 6 per cent during the year to £371.5m, providing some comfort that the group can progress in a challenging market.

"The increase was driven both by improving trading conditions in our international businesses, particularly in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and in addition to good progress made in the UK and Europe.

“Whilst some macro-economic volatility remains, we are confident that the group will continue to deliver on its objectives of driving demand for products and services and increasing revenues and profitability.”

Mr Stothard told The Yorkshire Post said the group’s plans were based on the belief that its end markets “will continue to run at similar levels to where they are at the moment” and these stable markets would allow the group to progress.

Mr Pilkington’s statement to accompany the results, added: “While the Covid-19 pandemic is thankfully behind us, it has impacted much of the business landscape within which we operate.

"This has made recovery more hesitant in certain markets than we had originally expected but nevertheless the group has made further progress this year. We have a successful long term track record of meeting and overcoming economic challenges and we believe we can identify profitable growth opportunities to continue to deliver the sector leading results our stakeholders have come to expect.