DSW Capital maintains revenue despite challenging year
DSW Capital, the company which owns the Dow Schofield Watts brand, has announced its full-year results for the year ended 31 March 2023.
Despite a challenging second half, network revenue matched last year’s record level of £18.3m, while Group revenue was maintained at £2.7m and income from licensees at £3m. Adjusted pre-tax profit was £1.4m, down from £2m the previous year, with the decline reflecting a full year’s plc costs including investment in additional central resource.
DSW is proposing a final dividend of 2.0 pence per share, giving a total dividend per share for the year of 3.76p. This compares to 4.22p last year.
During the period the number of fee earners in the network increased from 88 to 97. DSW also launched its Future Leaders Programme to invest in the next generation of DSW leaders, and laid the foundations for a recruitment drive to attract more licensees to the network. This has already resulted in a healthy pipeline of candidates, with two new licensees having signed heads of terms.
The results were impacted by a significant shift in sentiment which followed the autumn mini-budget and whilst the challenging market conditions have continued into FY24, the Board’s focus is firmly on fee earner recruitment and the expansion of services.
Since the year end, DSW has also expanded into the Midlands by providing funding to support the MBO of Bridgewood. The addition of the business and 10 fee earners brings the network to a total of 107 professionals and 23 licensee businesses across the UK.
James Dow, Chief Executive Officer, said:
“While the outcome for FY23 was not what we expected, at the start of the financial year, we are pleased with the progress the Group has made in other areas. Our investment in building a strong infrastructure to support our growth continued and we have significantly enhanced our recruitment capabilities despite the tough market; remaining greedy whilst others are fearful. This approach has served us well to date and we are confident that we will benefit from this investment in subsequent trading periods.
“The post-year end addition of Bridgewood to the DSW Network demonstrates our ambitions to re-balance the portfolio and expand the geographical presence of the Group. We believe the increasing scrutiny and regulation facing some of our larger competitors, in combination with the current market conditions, will enable us to attract more quality Fee Earners to DSW, supporting our future growth and expansion.”
If you would like to read the full audited results you can view the Annual Report and Accounts click here.