Next 15 Group PLC on Wednesday said its trading performance had showed resilience against a difficult macro-economic backdrop, and anticipated reporting ‘another year of solid growth’ in its full year results.

The London-based digital marketing firm said its overall performance was robust and that trading was ‘resilient, despite a very tough comparator period’ for the five months ended June 30. It described its technology customer base as ‘robust, albeit with spend shifted between certain segments’.

Next 15 also reported organic growth in its Customer Insight, Customer Delivery and Business Transformation divisions, with a ‘modest decline’ in Customer Engagement which it attributes in part to some client spending delays.

Going forward, Next 15 expects full-year profit and earnings per share to be in line with management expectations, with revenue between 5% and 8% ahead of the prior year, after ‘another year of solid growth.’

It said full-year operating margins also should increase despite inflationary pressures, and that this would reflect a significant improvement in trading as well as ‘tight’ cost control. It said its balance sheet remains strong, and it expects to be cash positive at the end of the year.

The company added that it has chosen to settle £10 million of its earnout obligations in cash instead of shares, in order to reduce the potential impact of share dilution.

‘The board will continue to prioritise organic investment within the business, as well as [mergers and acquisitions] and are evaluating strategic options for returning excess cash to shareholders, including a share buyback,’ Next 15 commented.

Shares in Next 15 were down 3.5% at 649.00 pence in London on Thursday.

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