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(Sharecast News) - SpaceandPeople reported an 81% increase in basic earnings per share to 14.1p for the year ended 31 December on Monday, supported by a 15% rise in revenue to £6.7m and a 33% increase in operating profit to £0.3m.
The AIM-traded promotional retail specialist said it ended the year with £1.9m in cash, unchanged from 2023, while net cash rose 46% to £1.04m following a further reduction in debt.
Operationally, the firm said it had secured a new five-year contract with Network Rail, granting exclusive access to many of the UK's highest-footfall venues.
In Europe, its retail contract with ECE - Germany's largest shopping centre operator - was extended for another five years, supporting continued growth in the region.
Both UK and German operations recorded strong transactional growth, with UK brand experience revenue up 36% year-on-year.
The 'Rock Up and Pop Up' (RUPU) kiosk initiative also continued to expand, with 26 kiosks active across 14 venues by year-end and further growth planned for 2025.
"The group performed very well operationally in 2024 with strong revenue and profit growth as well as continued net debt reduction," said chair George Watt.
"There has also been very good strategic progress with the major Network Rail five-year contract renewal after a robust competitive tendering process in the UK and the ECE contract renewal, also for five years, in Germany.
"There has been steady progress on other strategic objectives, such as new product growth and wider European expansion, but more remains to be achieved."
Watt said those areas would be a major focus in 2025 as the significant management resource devoted to the contract renewal processes in 2024 was realigned and targeted to deliver key strategic objectives.
"SpaceandPeople remains a strongly cash generative business which has limited capital expenditure needs and, as I have noted previously, we will look to return to paying dividends at a suitably prudent time when distributable reserves permit."
At 0820 BST, shares in SpaceandPeople were flat at 97.5p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
