Weir Group Plc has announced an interim dividend of 13.5 pence per share, up 17%. The ex-dividend date for the interim dividend is 6 October 2022. The record date for the interim dividend is 7 October 2022. The interim dividend is to be paid on 4 November 2022
Other financial highlights:
Strong demand for Weir mining equipment and spares
- Production trends and commodity prices supporting record AM orders +23%
- Sustainable solutions driving OE demand; +18% excl. prior year large one-off orders
- Increased order book and robust opportunity pipeline looking forward
Strong execution and pricing power; H1 adjusted operating profit of £168m, +15%
- Revenues +18%; Q2 revenue +20% sequentially; positive price and volume growth
- Input cost inflation mitigated; gross margins maintained
- H1 operating margins 15.3%; sequential margin expansion in Q2
Working capital build to support order book
- Net debt to EBITDA of 2.0x
- Free operating cash flow to increase through H2; inventory unwind expected
Launched business process transformation programme
- £30m annualised run-rate savings by 2025
- FY23 operating margin target of 17% underpinned; margins beyond 17% thereafter
Outlook: continue to expect growth in FY22 constant currency revenue and profit
- Operating profit towards the upper end of the range of current analysts' expectations
- Operating margin expansion in line with prior guidance
- 80-90% free operating cash conversion
