Northern Bear roars higher as final results tear up forecasts

13th Jul 2015 11:58

(ShareCast News) - Shares in Northern Bear climbed nearly 6% on Monday after posting better-than-expected full-year results.Revenues in the company, which provides specialist building services to local authorities, rose 13.4% to £41.7m and pre-tax profits increased 6.3% to £1.86m, bringing earnings per share up from 7.6p to 8.5p.Northern Bear, which reported an exceptional bad debt of £259,000, said it had been focusing on using operating cash flow to reduce bank debt levels despite challenging trading conditions.As a result, it proposed the payment of a dividend of 1.5p, up from 0.75p in 2014.Chairman Steve Roberts said: "Whilst continuing to reward shareholders through dividend payments and further reducing bank debt, the Group remains well placed to take advantage of acquisition opportunities as and when they arise."Looking ahead, the group said it started the new financial year well with strong order books, but noted there was a downturn in project commencement pending the outcome of the UK general elections.Shares were up 5.66% to 52.3p on Monday at 10:47.