A payment date this week

BTG Consulting, the financial and real estate advisory group formerly known as Begbies Traynor, is due to pay its final Dividend for the year to 30 April 2026 on Thursday 5 November 2026. (LSE:BTG) The final of 3.1p, up from 2.9p, goes to shareholders on the register on 9 October; the shares went ex-dividend on 8 October. All resolutions at the Annual General Meeting on 16 September were passed, according to the company's announcement that day.

No new regulatory announcement was issued on 3 November 2026. (LSE:BTG) This article uses the payment as a prompt to examine how the group funds its dividend alongside acquisitions and buybacks, drawing on the final results published on 6 July 2026.

The dividend record

Including the 1.5p interim already paid, the total dividend for the 2026 financial year is 4.6p, a 7% increase on 4.3p. (LSE:BTG) The company says this marks nine consecutive years of dividend growth and describes its policy as progressive, taking into account Earnings growth, Investment plans and cash needs.

Using the LSE delayed price of 112.5p for the 3 November session, captured shortly after midnight on 4 November, the 4.6p total represents a historic Yield of about 4.1% on our calculation. (LSE:BTG) That is based on the last full year's declared payments and is not a forecast. Adjusted Diluted Earnings per Share of 11.1p covered the total about 2.4 times, while statutory diluted EPS of 5.1p, which includes acquisition-related charges, covered it only about 1.1 times.

Where the cash went

Free Cash Flow for the year was £14.1m, down from £19.4m, which the company attributed to Working Capital movements, mainly in restructuring, and a normalisation of tax payments. Against that, the group spent £8.1m on acquisitions and earn-outs, £1.2m on share Buybacks to offset dilution and meet equity-settled obligations, and £6.9m on dividends. The result was a swing from net cash of £0.9m to net Debt of £1.0m at 30 April, excluding Lease liabilities.

On our reading, the group's cash returns and deal spending together slightly exceeded the cash it generated last year, which explains the small move into net debt. The Balance Sheet nonetheless remains close to a neutral position overall.

What supports the earnings

Revenue rose 10% to £168.5m, including 8% organic growth, and adjusted profit before tax increased 6% to £25.0m. Restructuring, which made up 82% of the financial advisory segment's revenue, had an order book of £88.2m at year end, up from £78.6m, giving some visibility. Advisory work was held back by weaker transaction markets. The financial advisory segment as a whole grew Revenue 9% to £116.8m. Nationally, Insolvency appointments in the year were 23,616, slightly below 23,979, although administrations rose 12.3% to 1,739, helped by appointments linked to one large insolvency.

At the AGM in September, executive chairman Ric Traynor said first-quarter results to 31 July were in line with expectations and that the group remained confident of meeting full-year market expectations, which it put at revenue of £179.9m and adjusted profit before tax of £26.7m. These are analyst consensus figures compiled by the company, not company forecasts. The group retains a medium-term revenue target of £200m.

Risks to the payout

Restructuring Demand partly reflects difficult economic conditions, and could ease if Business failures decline. Transactional and property markets are sensitive to interest rates. Continued acquisitions, including earn-out payments, compete with dividends for cash, and a further working capital build would weigh on free cash flow. The gap between adjusted and statutory earnings also deserves attention from shareholders.

Next update

The company said it expects to publish half-year results in December 2026, when investors will see whether the run of dividend increases continues at the interim stage, alongside updates on trading, cash flow and net debt.