Recent articles for private investors with a focus on dividend announcements
Interserve Contract win
INTERSERVE WINS £24m CORBY LINK ROAD CONTRACTInterserve, the international support services and construction group, has wona £24 million contract with Northamptonshire County Council to build the newA43 Corby Link Road.The scheme, developed by the council over many years, will improve transportlinks between Corby and the A14, support the growth of Corby and relieve theA43 at Geddington of through-traffic. The project aims to reduce the number andseverity of road accidents and provide a high quality route.Site preparation works are under way, with the main contract due to start inJuly. Completion and road opening are expected in early 2014. The scheme willinvolve the construction of approximately 6.5km of dual carriageway and threenew bridges. Where the road crosses a valley Interserve will accommodate thewatercourse beneath it in a box culvert.Extensive earthworks and piling will be required, with cuttings and embankmentsup to 10m deep and 8m high. Interserve will use local resources whereverpossible and, in accordance with the council's requirements to protectendangered species, will translocate bluebells and ancient hedgerows.David Paterson, Interserve Executive Director, says, "The A43 Corby Link Roadwill benefit both the local community and through traffic. The project willshowcase our expertise in major civil works and our commitment to deliveringsuch extensive developments sustainably. Our major projects team will work withlocal suppliers to achieve this."
Ashtead Group Finals 2011/12 dividend announced
Audited results for the year and unaudited results for the fourth quarter ended 30 April 2012
Halma Finals 2012 - another dividend increase announced
HALMA plc PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE 52 WEEKS TO 31 MARCH 2012
Premier Farnell Q1 Results
Premier Farnell plc 14 June 2012Results for the First Quarter of the 53 week Period Ending 3February 2013Key Financials £m Q1 12/13 Q1 11/12 Q1Continuing operations £m £m Growth (a)(unaudited)Total revenue 241.0 252.5 -5.0%Adjusted operating profit (b) 26.0 28.5 -8.6%Restructuring costs / gain on (7.5) 17.8business disposal (b)Total operating profit 18.5 46.3 -60.2%Adjusted profit before tax (b) 20.9 24.1 -13.3%Total profit before taxation 13.4 41.9 -68.0%Adjusted earnings per share (b) 4.1p 4.7p -12.8%Basic earnings per share 2.6p 8.9p -70.8%Free cash flow (c) 21.8 6.6 230.3% Sales per day maintained at stable levels since Q3 last year; continued focus on margin and costsFinancial highlights- Continued delivery of industry leading return on sales with firstquarter at 10.8% (2011/12: 11.3%), and underlying operating profit for thequarter of £26.0m (2011/12: £28.5m).- Stability in sales per day (SPD) maintained for the thirdconsecutive quarter, despite contracting markets, resulting in a year on yeardecline of 5.0% in the quarter against strong comparator growth of 8.3% lastyear.- Both Europe and Asia Pacific showed strong sequential growth of2.1% and 8.5%, respectively with Asia Pacific returning to year on yeargrowth. North America was 2.7% lower, sequentially, as we continued ourstrategic transformation away from commodity MRO.- Following investment in our high service proposition, firstquarter gross margin increased by 0.7% on the fourth quarter to 39.8%(2011/12: 40.7%) and above our long term average.- Overhead costs for the first quarter were 29.0% of sales(2011/12: 29.4%) representing a year on year reduction of £4.3m, with focus oncost efficiency through the remainder of the year.- Operating cash flow conversion in the quarter was strong at116.5%(e) (2011/12: 61.1%) giving free cash flow of £21.8m for the quarterreducing net debt to £212.3m (Q4 2011/12: £237.1m).Strategic highlights- Global MDD eCommerce penetration increased by 2.4 percentagepoints year on year to 56.1%.- Continued progress as a digital enterprise, with 2.7m visits inthe quarter to our element14 community as it played an important role in theglobal launch of Raspberry Pi which will add in excess of 60,000 new customersfor the second quarter.- Continued growth in our active customer base of 2.1% in the firstquarter.- International growth markets contributed 23.2% of total saleswithin which first quarter sales to our emerging markets increased by 6.5%year on year giving three year compound growth of 48.0%.- Following the launch in Q3 of version six of CadSoft EAGLE, ourdesign engineering software, CadSoft product sales increased by 95.4% year onyear in the first quarter.- Our new multi-lingual, pan-European outboundtelesales call centre in Krakow, Poland, is on track for a phased launchfollowing its opening on 28th May. As previously announced, £7.5m ofexceptional costs, principally in relation to this project, were incurred inthe quarter and will be recovered over a 3-4 year payback period.- On 24th May the Group announced the resignationof Harriet Green after six years as Chief Executive Officer and theappointment of Laurence Bain. Laurence joined the Company in 2002 and has beenChief Operating Officer since July 2002. He has played a key role in thedevelopment and delivery of the Group's strategy.Commenting on the results, Laurence Bain, GroupChief Executive, said:`'Global quarterly sales per day have beenmaintained at a stable level since the decline in the global electronics andtechnology markets that impacted us in June last year. In the first quarter wesaw sequential growth in both Europe and Asia Pacific and a reduction in theAmericas as that business continues its progression from commodity tostrategic MRO and EDE. Although at this stage of the cycle EDE markets remainchallenging, MRO sales per day continued to progress on a year on year basis.Sales in May were stable against Q1 resulting in an improved yearon year performance of -2.4%. We continue to manage costs carefully andmaintain gross margin stability whilst investing in support of our strategyand our people. As comparators become easier from the middle of the year andwith the benefit of a 53rd week we expect growth to return in the second half.However as we have limited forward visibility and in light of the economicoutlook we remain cautious.With continued focus on providing great service to the engineeringcommunity, our multichannel strategy, led by the web and growth in emergingmarkets, I believe that the Group will go from strength to strength.''
PZ Cussons trading statement June 2012
PZ Cussons Plc today issues the following trading update in respect of the year ended 31 May 2012.
RPC Group Finals 2011/12 - dividend announced
RPC GROUP PLC Preliminary results for the year ended 31 March 2012
Serco Acquisition Vertex's UK public sector BPO operations
Serco Group plc (Serco), the international services company, today announces that it has acquired Vertex Public Sector Limited, the UK public sector operations of Vertex Data Science Limited, for cash consideration of £55.5m.The acquisition brings additional skills and capabilities to support expansion into new areas of middle and back office support and adds further scale to our recently created Global Services division.Vertex Public Sector provides high quality Business Process Outsourcing (BPO)services to UK local and central government. Major customers in local government include Westminster and Thurrock councils, and in central government include the Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission (CMEC) and Job Centre Plus. Its 3,000 employees handle approximately 4.5 million citizen interactions a year.The business provides multi-channel contact centres, shared transactional services and ICT services. In particular, it brings deep skills and capabilities in areas such as HR and payroll, revenues and benefits, complex case management and administration services.The acquisition considerably increases our market presence and further improves Serco's position for large scale outsourcing opportunities. We expect it to enable us to provide additional services into existing local government customers and to enhance our ability to secure further wide-ranging strategic partnerships such as those achieved with local authorities in Glasgow,Hertfordshire and Peterborough. The Vertex operations also bring significant experience and scale to leverage in future opportunities within the central government market, as well as the potential transfer of capabilities to private sector customers.The pro forma financial result for the year to 31 March 2012 for Vertex Public Sector Limited was approximately £110m of revenue and £8m of Adjusted operating profit.Christopher Hyman, Chief Executive of Serco Group plc, said: "This acquisition enhances the range of services we offer to the UK public sector as they seek to reduce costs whilst continuously improving outcomes for citizens. We are pleased with the important customer relationships it brings and the opportunity to extend and expand these. The newly added skills and capabilities will also help Serco address future prospects in both the local authority and central government markets. Following recent significant contract wins, this is another important step for our BPO strategy and the development of our Global Services business. This business will have annual revenues of over $1bn and approximately 50,000 employees offering a diverse range of middle and back office services to both public and private sector customers."
Rolls Royce Acquisition
Rolls-Royce to acquire Aero Engine ControlsRolls-Royce, the global power systems company, announces today that it willacquire the 50 per cent of shares it does not already own in Aero EngineControls (AEC) a joint venture with Goodrich Corporation. AEC was establishedin January 2009 to combine the engine controls businesses of the two companies.The joint venture principally designs and manufactures engine control systemsincluding electronic engine controllers, fuel pumps and fuel metering units fora wide range of Rolls-Royce engines and for a number of other programmes.Engine control systems play an increasingly important part in enhancing thefuel efficiency and overall performance of modern jet engines. This acquisitionwill give Rolls-Royce full ownership of a critical capability that conferscompetitive advantage.AEC employs around 1,400 people and has sites in Birmingham, Derby, and Belfastin the UK and in Indianapolis, USA.The transaction has been agreed with United Technologies Corp (UTC), which isin the process of acquiring Goodrich. The acquisition of the remainder of theshares in AEC by Rolls-Royce will only proceed once the acquisition of Goodrichby UTC is complete and once any necessary antitrust approvals are obtained.The transaction will have no material impact for Rolls-Royce on the currentyear's financial performance.
Great Portland Estates acquisition
Great Portland Estates plc makes £39.0 million purchase in St James's from Henderson Global Investors
Halfords 2011/12 Final Results - dividend maintained
Halfords Group plc Preliminary Results Financial Year 2012
Halma Acquisition of SunTech
Halma, the leading safety, health and sensor technology group, today announces the acquisition of SunTech Medical Group Limited ("SunTech") on 31 May 2012.
Burberry Final Results 2011/12 - dividend up 25%
“Burberry has completed another successful year, with revenue up 24% and adjusted profit before tax up 26%. An intense focus by our global teams on business, brand and culture in recent years has resulted in a strong foundation across channels, regions and products. While we remain vigilant about the external environment, we will continue to invest in front-end opportunities within our brand, digital and retail strategies, to drive sustained, profitable growth and enduring customer engagement over the long term.” - Angela Ahrendts Chief Executive Officer
Tate & Lyle Final Results
TATE & LYLE PLC
ANNOUNCEMENT OF FULL YEAR RESULTS
For the year ended 31 March 2012
Continuing operations£m unless stated otherwise
2012
2011
Change(reported)
Change(constantcurrency)
Sales
3 088
2 720
+ 14
%
+ 16
%
Adjusted results
Adjusted operating profit
348
321
+ 8
%
+ 11
%
Adjusted profit before tax
323
263
+ 23
%
+ 26
%
Adjusted diluted earnings per share
56.4p
45.7p
+ 23
%
+ 25
%
Statutory results
Operating profit
404
303
Profit before tax
379
245
Profit for the year (on total operations)
309
167
Diluted earnings per share (on total operations)
64.3p
34.7p
Cash flow and net debt
Free cash flow
79
178
Net debt
476
464
Dividend per share
24.9p
23.7p
+ 5.1
%
Amec expands in Australia
AMEC expands its Environment & Infrastructure service offering in Australia
Daily Mail & General Trust half yearly results
SOLID UNDERLYING PERFORMANCE; FULL YEAR OUTLOOK UNCHANGED- Solid Group revenue performance, up 3% on an underlying basis.- Underlying operating profit flat; reported Group profits in linewith expectations.- Good performance from B2B; underlying revenue up 9% andunderlying profit up 14%.- Resilient revenues at Associated: strong digital advertising (up21%) and circulation (up 4%), offsetting print advertising decline (down 10%)- Northcliffe operating profit up 34%.- Profit before tax lower due to various one-off items.- Active portfolio management; targeted acquisitions and disposalof non-core assets.- Net debt up £90m to £809m, but is expected to reduce in thesecond half.- Outlook for the year remains unchanged.- Dividend increased by 6%.Martin Morgan, Chief Executive, said:"We have delivered a solid underlying performance in the first half reflectingthe strength of our B2B companies and the resilience of our national consumertitles. As expected, disposals and certain one-off factors have led to lowerreported half year results.Our international B2B companies have increased their underlying revenues andprofits by 9% and 14% respectively. Their reported results were lower due tothe impact of disposals and a low biennial half year for the events business.Our UK consumer businesses have experienced more challenging conditions,although underlying revenues were only slightly down. Within Associated,circulation and digital revenue growth largely offset print advertisingweakness. Consumer first half profits were also affected by increased digitalpromotional activity which we expect to be less pronounced in the second half.We have continued actively to manage our portfolio of businesses and have madeseveral acquisitions and disposals during the period and into the second half,to improve the overall quality and growth prospects of the Group. Thecontinued growth of our B2B companies and more positive momentum expectedwithin our consumer operations in the second half of the year means that weexpect to achieve growth in earnings* for the full financial year, compared tothe equivalent figure last year."
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