Franchise Brands PLC on Thursday increased its dividend as it reported higher earnings due to ‘resilient underlying demand’.

The Manchester, England-based owner of the ChipsAway, Willow Pumps and Metro Rod brands said pretax profit increased 86% to £9.2 million in 2024 from £5.0 million in 2023.

Revenue climbed 15% to £139.2 million from £121.0 million, while cost of sales rose just 5.9% to £55.9 million from £52.8 million.

Franchise Brands proposed a final dividend of 1.3 pence, up 8.3% from 1.2 pence in 2023. That makes a total dividend for 2024 of 2.4p, an increase of 9.1% from 2.2p.

Basic earnings per share more than doubled to 3.78p from 1.73p.

The company reported record System sales of £418.5 million, up 20% from £350.1 million in 2023, due to ‘resilient underlying demand for the group’s essential services’.

Looking ahead, Franchise Brands said it sees ‘resilient demand for essential reactive services’ in 2025, but discretionary spend remains held-back in subdued markets.

The firm said it was well-placed to benefit from the expected increase in discretionary spending in ‘several international markets’, though the timing is uncertain.

Franchise Brands said the realisation of ‘group-wide efficiencies’ for 2025 means it ‘remains optimistic’ that it will perform in line with market expectations.

The company said the market expects revenue to be between £145.2 million and £157.0 million in 2025. It expects adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of between £39.3 million and £40.0 million and adjusted EPS between 10.34p and 10.70p.

All these would be up on 2024.

Adjusted Ebitda rose 16% in 2024 to £35.1 million from £30.2 million in 2023, while adjusted EPS increased by 2.4% to 8.59p from 8.39p.

Executive Chair Stephen Hemsley said: ‘The group achieved record system sales in all key divisions and a creditable adjusted Ebitda outturn for the year, despite ongoing challenging macroeconomic conditions in many of our key markets. This is a testament to the strength and resilience of the Franchise Brands business model and international diversification of our market-leading brands.

‘As we accelerate the pace of integration of the group’s businesses, we will drive operational gearing by maximising sales opportunities whilst leveraging an efficient structure, on an enhanced IT platform. We are confident that we have the strengthened leadership team in place to unlock the significant opportunities ahead.’

Franchise Brands shares were up 1.9% to 139.60 pence in London on Thursday morning.

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