Doing things smarter

Hogg Robinson (HRG) continues to please with 12% growth in trading profit in the half to September. Currency boost apart, there was a further solid underlying advance (7%) by its main activity, travel management, despite 4% lower revenue in testing conditions. Increasing payoff from restructuring and technology-driven efficiencies reinforces confidence in HRG’s ability “to do things smarter” and in our forecasts, which are maintained on a constant currency basis but increased now owing to FX. Cash generation (net debt/EBITDA of just 0.5x for the last 12 months) remains strong, allowing welcome investment and dividend flexibility.