Aveva holds dividend as annual profit rises 22%

Aveva left its final dividend unchanged as the industrial software company announced a 22% increase in annual profit and up to £60m of cost reductions.

Adjusted pretax profit for the year to the end of March rose to £213.8m from £175.4m a year earlier as revenue rose 8.8% to £833.8m. Statutory pretax profit almost doubled to £92m from £46.7m.

The FTSE 100 company held its final dividend at 29p a share and said this reflected the resilience of its business. Aveva said it expected business to grow as companies seek to improve digital systems but that it faced some short-term disruption because of Covid-19.

Aveva said it would spend £50-60m less than planned this year but did not intend to cut jobs, furlough employees or take government support. The cost cuts will come from discretionary spending, lower travel costs and switching making important events virtual rather than physical.

Chief Executive Craig Hayman said: "Aveva is well placed to navigate through the challenges of the current environment, with the benefit of recurring revenue from multi-year contracts. Aveva is in a strong position and our strategy and medium-term objectives remain unchanged."

The company said it had cash and deposits of £114.6m, no debt and strong cash collection after the financial year ended.