Zigup has increased its interim dividend in the first half of its financial year by 6% annually to 8.8 pence per share, despite its reported profit before tax dropping by 42.4% to £56.2m.

The integrated mobility solutions platform said that this drop in profit was a result of lower disposal and claims and services profits.

Its reported revenue fall slightly by 0.8% to £903.6m in the six months to 31 October, although underlying revenue increased by 5.6% to £775m.

Furthermore, the firm’s reported EBIT dropped to £73.2m, which is a 35.4% decrease, while earnings per share fell by 41.5%, to 19.4 pence.

Despite this, Zigup’s fleet assets increased by 16.1% to £1.43bn, while its underlying EBITDA jumped by 3.9% to £228.6m.

Chief executive officer at Zigup, Martin Ward, said: "Our strategy continues to deliver, and we are well placed with our broadening position in the essential market for mobility services. We are pleased to report underlying growth in revenues, and the delivery of profit before tax in line with expectations, while reflecting normalising disposal profits as previously stated.

"We have seen a good supply of new vehicles coming through since the year end, reducing the fleet age and strengthening our asset base. Our fleet now exceeds £1.4bn in value, underscoring our strong market presence.

"Significant progress has been made in cash collection and establishing more protocols with insurers, improving processing efficiencies."

Looking ahead, Zigup said that its recent vehicle supply contracts have "provided good visibility" for fleet growth in 2025, with expected increases in infrastructure spending as "also positive" for its UK rental customer base in the medium-term.

The firm added that while the "normalisation seen in residual values will see disposal profit moderate", its "confidence" and outlook for the business remains unchanged and in line with market expectations.

Ward concluded: "We are also pleased to have secured new, additional long-term funding, which has successfully reduced our average borrowing costs to 3.2%. This not only enhances our financial strength but also provides substantial opportunities to support further fleet growth. Our prospects are strong, and our expectations for the full year are on track.

"With our strategic initiatives yielding positive results and a strong financial footing, we are well-positioned to continue our growth trajectory and to capitalise on opportunities within the mobility services market."

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