Genuit Group Plc have declared an interim dividend of 4.1 pence per share. This dividend will be paid on 27 September 2023 to shareholders on the register at the close of business on 1 September 2023.
Other financial highlights include:
Revenue decrease of 4.2%, 5.0% lower on a like-for-like basis, driven by a volume decline of 14.5% offset with successful new product launches and balanced price and cost management.
Underlying operating margin improvement of 50 basis points, with sequential month-on-month improvement in margins from April onwards. This was driven by efficiency and cost reduction actions, improved portfolio profit mix, ongoing action on lower margin business and balanced pricing offsetting inflationary headwinds.
Sustainable Building Solutions' 10.7% revenue decrease driven by lower market volumes yet, despite this, underlying operating margin rose 220 basis points through self-help measures.
Water Management Solutions revenue declined by 4.0%, outperforming the market and with self-help measures driving 180 basis point underlying operating margin growth.
Climate Management Solutions revenue grew by 8.9%, recovering from last year's isolated cyber-incident and benefitting from stronger demand for residential ventilation. To reduce the risk of a recurrence, the Group has invested heavily in cyber defence and insurance for this business to bring it up to Group standards. This step up in costs plus short term boiler market weakness contributed to an operating margin that was 400 basis points below last year, but this investment masked sequential underlying operating profit margin improvement since the second half of last year and which management expects to continue.
Net debt reduced from 1.5 times to 1.3 times pro forma EBITDA in line with expectations.
