Highlights
Another year of record sales and profit
Organic sales up 5%
Operating profit up 6% at constant currency
Operating margin 20.6% from strong second half performance
Cash generation at record levels - ending net cash £52m
Special dividend recommended of 100p per share (£78m)
Mark Vernon, Chief Executive, commenting on the results said:
I am pleased to report that the Group delivered another year of record sales, profit and cash generation despite slowing global economic growth throughout the year. The resiliency of our business model and our good exposure to faster growing emerging markets in Asia, enabled the Group to achieve 5% overall organic sales growth and higher profits, a noteworthy accomplishment given the particularly difficult economic environment in Europe. 2013 has started in line with our expectations and we look forward to making further progress for the year.
