Advertising agency M&C Saatchi Plc (LON:SAA) has hiked its dividend after posting another record set of full-year results.
The AIM company, which was founded by ad moguls Maurice and Charles Saatchi, reported a 2% rise in net revenue to £255.3mln in 2018 (2017: £251.5mln).
READ: M&C Saatchi posts strong increase in profits
Pre-tax profits soared 16% to £32.2mln (2017: £27.7mln).
All of M&C’s businesses around the world saw like-for-like net revenues climb, with the Middle East and Asia putting in a particularly strong showing.
New business wins included eBay in the UK, Carlsberg in Italy and Philips in Israel.
Given the record performance, M&C Saatchi upped its final dividend by 15% to 8.51p, taking its total payout for the year to 10.96p (2017: 9.53p).
Solid start to 2019
“2018 was another record year for M&C Saatchi in terms of net revenue and earnings,” said chief executive David Kershaw.
“Our unique business model of starting and growing companies with the best entrepreneurial talent continues to flourish.”
He added: “This year has begun well, and we are confident that we will continue to make good progress in 2019 and beyond.”
Shares dropped 0.8% to 389p in early deals on Wednesday.