Recommended final dividend of 11.125 pence per share, giving full year dividend of 16.125 pence (2013: 15.0 pence), an increase of 7.5% to be paid on 22 May 2014
Business Highlights
Strong underlying revenue performance from Steel Flow Control in all regions, and from Advanced Refractories in the Americas and Asia-Pacific
Product portfolio of activities further streamlined, with increased focus on products and services where value-add is rewarded
Implementation of self-help measures to increase productivity
Investment in technology, with new R&D facility in Netherlands to drive innovation and growth in Foundry
Further growth of presence in China, with the opening of a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant for Foundry
Acquisition of Process Metrix and ECIL Met Tec, expanding our Technical Services offering - an important medium-term growth opportunity
François Wanecq, Chief Executive of Vesuvius, commented:
"During 2014 we made encouraging progress in line with our objectives and strategy, against a backdrop of mixed trading conditions.
We have delivered further margin progression on the back of moderate underlying revenue growth, and we have maintained our long-term trend of expanding our addressable markets by building further on our strong base in Asia, and in China in particular. We have invested in new R&D centres, and we have completed acquisitions, building our new Technical Services offering for our steel and foundry customers.
We expect the underlying trading environment in the current year to be broadly similar to that experienced in 2014. We are progressing with our plan to improve operational efficiency across the Group and these actions should drive further improvement in our trading margins during 2015."
