This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
ASX-listed valuation firm Acumentis announced its first dividend since 2018, marking an important step on its recovery from its 2019 data breach and impacts of the pandemic.
Acumentis declared a dividend of 0.22c per share for FY24, as operating revenues lifted 5% to $56.187 million and operating profits increased 93% to $1.403 million.
During the year Acumentis continued its strategic restructure, which was further streamlined with the early settlement of deferred contingent consideration.
The contingent liability relating to the long-running cyber insurance aggregation claim from 2019 was settled during the year, removing the potential for future legal costs and litigation risk.
Acumentis was LandMark White in 2019 when a data breach affected as many as 100,000 customers, which saw property valuations and personal information leaked on the dark web.
The claim related to whether the attacks should be aggregated and the insurers had demanded repayment of $1.1 million benefit paid in 2019. The company has agreed to repay $300,000 in full and final settlement of the aggregation claim in order to avoid legal costs defending the claim and the associated litigation risk if the matter progressed to trial.
The company also recorded legal costs and provision for settlement of a legal claim within the insurance excess.
Its FY24 profit before tax increased 126% year-on-year to $1.645 million, and net profit after tax increased 232%.
Growth in fees from financial institutions of 2% and corporate and private clients of 18% was offset by an 11% reduction in fees from government entities due to the scaling down of work relating to the 2022 flood events.
“The board expects economic conditions in FY25 to remain challenging with high interest rates and inflation likely to continue through much of the year. Despite these challenges, the business is in a position to grow and continue to deliver improvements to profitability,” Acumentis said.
