A record year for the Jurassic World Evolution 3 maker prompts a £5m special payout and a leadership handover from founder David Braben.
Frontier Developments (AIM: FDEV) has declared a special dividend of 14.1p a share after posting record annual results, with the Cambridge-based studio behind Jurassic World Evolution 3 and the Planet Coaster and Planet Zoo franchises reporting revenue up 16% to £104.8m for the year to 31 May.
The £5m special dividend, equivalent to a yield of around 2.8%, comes on top of a year in which adjusted operating profit jumped 62% to a record £21.4m and basic earnings per share rose 76% to 74.6p, figures management described as marking a 'landmark' year for the business.
Operating profit nearly doubled to £25.0m, aided by a one-off tax credit, while the company still generated strong cash despite spending £17.5m on share buybacks over the year, including £15.5m repurchased during the period alone. It ended August with £51.4m in the bank, underlining the strength of its balance sheet even after returning capital to shareholders.
The results also mark a moment of transition at the top: founder David Braben is set to step back to a non-executive role next month after handing the chief executive reins to Jo Cooke in January, though he remains president and founder. Cooke said the company was 'well positioned to deliver sustainable growth' having demonstrated the strength of its creative management simulation strategy across its portfolio of games.
Attention now turns to a busy release schedule, with Planet Zoo 2 due in October, a Warhammer 40,000 title to follow, and a newly struck deal with Disney to develop a game using its characters. Investors may show renewed interest in the stock ahead of the special dividend's 17 September ex-dividend date, though the source material does not disclose any share price reaction to the results.
This report is based on Frontier Developments’s announcement and coverage by UK Investor Magazine. Company announcements can be tracked via London Stock Exchange RNS and Investegate, and the full markets calendar is worth watching for the next update.
This article is for general information only and does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Photo: Dennis Zhang on Unsplash.
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