MS International hikes dividend after ‘record’ year

MS International hailed an outstanding year of trading performance and growth after it saw revenue hit £100m for the first time and record profits thanks to particular success in its defence and corporate branding divisions.

Overall revenue at the multi-sector firm, which is listed on the Aim market, rose by 30 per cent from £84m to £109.5m the year ended April 30, 2024, leading it to raise its dividend.

Gross profit at meanwhile, jumped from £23.4m to £33.9m; a rise of 45 per cent.

MS International has four main, very diverse divisions – defence systems, petrol superstructures, forgings and corporate branding, which makes luminous signs.

Of these, defence is considerably the largest in terms of revenue and operating profit; it is over three times the size of forgings, its second largest division, which specialises in the manufacture of high-quality open die hammer forgings.

Michael Bell, MS International’s Chairman, said: “It gives me immense pleasure to confirm that… progress can now clearly be demonstrated in the results for the year ended April 2024.

“A record pre-tax profit was achieved on increased revenue, breaking through the £100m revenue level for the first time in the company’s history.”

Basic earnings per share over the reporting period was 71p, up dramatically from 25.6p in full-year 2023, while its diluted earnings per share rose from 24.2p to 67.5p.

All this prompted the board to hike its final divided 16.5p, taking the total for the year up to 19.6p, up from 15p the previous year.

Shareholders can expect the dividend to be paid by August 23.

Shares in the multi-sector firm jumped over four per cent in early trading.