Revenue 4.6% lower at £186.6 million (-2.2% at CC)
Operations revenue and operating profits up by 1.5% and 12.6% respectively (at CC)
EBITDA 6.4% higher and margin increased to 25.6%
Pre-tax Profit of £30.1 million, up 23.8%
Further increase in the net cash position to £63.1 million
Special dividend of 2.0 pence per share declared in February 2014
Increase of 25% in the annual dividend to 3.75 pence per share
John Lewis, Non-executive Chairman, said;
"It has been another excellent year for the Group and an important one in terms of our future development. Our Operations division grew revenue by 1.5% (at CC) and operating profits by 12.6% (at CC) and considerable progress was made in our laundry product Revolution, where we successfully relocated manufacturing to Hungary and where the average takings on the units deployed fully justify our confidence in this product for the future.
Sales and Servicing revenue declined substantially as we expected but lower costs plus profits of £1.3m from sales of Revolution units meant a return to healthy profits. Going forward, because of the much smaller size of Sales & Servicing and its effective absorption into the operations in France, we will no longer be reporting it separately and the Group will report purely along geographic lines.
Cash generation remained strong and we further increased our net cash balance to £63.1 million. We are recommending a final dividend of 1.95 pence to give a total dividend for the year of 3.75 pence, an increase of 25% over the previous year. We previously stated our intent to increase the ordinary dividend by 20% this year but the business' performance, outlook and balance sheet strength justify a higher level.
Photobooth numbers rose by a healthy 5.1% over the year and we expect to be able to continue to expand this estate which is benefiting from the introduction of the Starck booths and the relocation of production to China. The manufacturing capacity for Revolution is steadily increasing in line with our plans and excellent returns are being generated. We remain on track to have 2,000 units in the field by the end of December 2015. Thus the Group's two core products are both in excellent shape and well positioned for further growth.
Subject to the risks and uncertainties detailed in the business and financial review, the Board anticipates further significant progress over the coming year."
