Luxury interior furnishing company Walker Greenbank PLC (LON:WGB) said UK licensing income is gaining momentum.
New distribution agreements for bedding in the US and China contributed to a 13.1% increase in constant currency terms in licensing income in 2016, to £2.6mln.
Income from licensing its designs contributed to a solid performance last year in which sales rose 5.2% to £924mln from £87.8mln in 2015, and underlying profit from operations rose 19.5% to £9.8mln from £8.2mln.
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Reported profit before tax eased to £6.97mln from £7.34mln but underlying profit before tax, which excludes one-off items such as £3.14mln of acquisition costs, advanced to £9.13mln from £7.34mln.
“Sales in the year ahead are expected to benefit from the new collections launched this spring, from the continued momentum of our licensing activities and from the significant contribution from Clarke & Clarke,” said Terry Stannard's, the group's chairman.
“With this backdrop, we remain confident in meeting the board's expectations for the current financial year," he added.
A final dividend of 3.06p, up 24.9% from 2.45p a year earlier, took the full-year dividend up to 3.61p, which was also 24.9% up year -on-year.
Shares in Walker Greenbank edged up 1.3% to 215.25p on the results.