Putting a rocket under Saga

published 22 April 2016

Saga (LSE: SAGA) is best known as a magazine sold to the over-50s, but its publishing arm is just one of five divisions, including insurance, travel and healthcare, all sold through the magazine. When its private-equity backers cashed out two years ago, they floated Saga and persuaded 160,000 loyal customers to buy shares in the company.

They have not done too badly, pushing through 200p this week, up 8% from the float price of 185p. Results released on Tuesday saw an increase in earnings and a hike in the full-year dividend to 7.2p. Its database of "contactable people" also crept higher, from 10.8 million to 11.2 million people in the last year.