Murgitroyd dividend on the rise

Murgitroyd, Scotland’s only listed firm of patent and trade mark attorneys, is to reward its shareholders with a sharp hike in the interim dividend after solid first-half numbers.

Results for the Glasgowheadquartered group yesterday revealed a 13 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £1.67 million for the six months to the end of November, on revenues of £21.6m, up from £21.45m a year earlier.

The board has proposed an interim dividend payment of 6.5p per share, marking a year-on-year increase of 30 per cent.

The firm assured investors that the geographic spread of its activities and customer base placed it in a “strong position to balance out any weakness in individual markets”.

Group chairman Ian Murgitroyd said: “In the period under review, the group commenced its single biggest IT investment… to remain at the cutting edge of client-service and productivity. The board remains confident that it can deliver sustainable long-term growth and value to shareholders, which combined with an increasingly strong balance sheet, has allowed us to increase our assessment of the sustainable level of dividends.”

The firm said it had added to its business development teams in the UK and the US with additional hires in both markets, while continuing with blue-chip client wins. More than half of the group’s revenue is generated in the US.