Group highlights
Revenue £773m, (H1 2012: £819m; H2 2012: £729m)
Trading profit £71m, (H1 2012: £80m; H2 2012: £51m)
Return on sales 9.2% (H1 2012: 9.7%; H2 2012: 7.1%)
Headline EPS of 15.9 pence (H1 2012 pro-forma(2) : 16.5 pence)
Free cash flow £38.2m (H1 2012: £2.2m)
Net debt £273m at 30 June (31 December 2012: £295m)
Interim dividend declared of 4.75 pence per share
Successful portfolio rationalisation including sale of Precious Metals Processing division for €56.8m
Share repurchase programme of up to £30m initiated on 4 June; £19.3m repurchased by 31 July
Triennial pension valuation confirms UK Plan fully funded; compulsory contributions ceased
François Wanecq, Chief Executive, commented:
"Vesuvius has delivered a solid performance in the first half, in a trading environment that was generally stable but still operating at a substantially lower level than in the first half of last year. All of our businesses performed better than, or in-line with, their main end-markets.
Trading margins across the Group reflected our revenue performance, as well as the impact of the self-help initiatives we have implemented. Trading margins recovered somewhat following the substantial falls we saw in the second half of last year, although they are still below the levels achieved during the same period last year. In Steel, trading margins benefited from the recent sale of low-margin businesses, and margins in Foundry were enhanced by our decision to exit the loss-making Solar Crucibles business. Today we are announcing further portfolio rationalisation, with the disposal of our low-margin construction and installation business in Canada, following the disposal of VGT Dyko in the first quarter. Our increasing focus on cash and working capital management across all our businesses led to a cash conversion rate in excess of 100%.
Following completion of the sale of the Precious Metals Processing division, Vesuvius is now a focused molten metal engineering company. We are well positioned to deliver revenue growth ahead of our end-markets over the medium term, and we continue to implement a range of actions to improve further our trading margins. I am pleased to announce the first dividend to be declared as Vesuvius. This, together with the share buy-back, confirms our commitment to deliver superior cash returns to shareholders."
