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Preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2003
Hill & Smith Holdings PLC (‘the Group’) has announced increased turnover, profits and dividends and a significant reduction in Group borrowings.
The Group has reported that turnover rose by 13.6 per cent to £241.7 m and profit before taxation increased to £7.0 m, 7.4 per cent higher than the previous year.
The proposed final dividend is 2.45p (2002: 2.40p), subject to shareholder approval, resulting in total dividends for the year of 4.60p (2002: 4.50p). The dividend is covered by adjusted earnings 2.5 times (2002: 2.6 times).
Group cash flow was strongly positive and by 31 December 2003 net borrowings had reduced to £36.5 m (2002: £44.9 m), resulting in a significant improvement in gearing to 96 per cent (2002:125 per cent).
Highlights
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Year ended - 31 December 2003 |
Year ended - 31 December 2002 |
| Turnover |
£241.7 m |
£212.7m |
| Profit before taxation |
£7.0 m |
£6.5m |
| Net borrowings |
£36.5 m |
£44.9m |
| Dividends |
4.6p |
4.5p |
| Earnings per share – adjusted |
11.54p |
11.79p |
| Earnings per share - FRS 3 |
7.90p |
6.45p |
Operating profit before exceptional items and goodwill amortisation was £13.6 m (2002: £14.0m) after charging additional pension costs of £1.0 m. Excluding the effect of these extra pension costs, underlying adjusted operating profit increased by 4.3 per cent and underlying adjusted earnings per share increased by 7.9 per cent.
The Building and Construction Products division contributed 92 per cent of the Group’s adjusted operating profit. The strategic acquisitions of Brifen and Mallatite Limited in 2002, both complementary businesses, have been fully integrated into the Group’s operations.
During the year, the Group entered into new bank financing arrangements, on more advantageous terms. Strongly positive cash flow resulted in a significant reduction in gearing.
Chairman David Winterbottom said: “Our infrastructure products businesses continued to make progress against a background of increased public expenditure, especially in the transport sector.
“Our market leading galvanizing business achieved a record throughput in the year and our modern facilities are well placed to take advantage of this growing market.
“We continue to concentrate our investment on the core infrastructure, building and construction businesses where we have significant market shares and where our product development programme is focused on the development of innovative solutions and products.
“The current year has started in line with our expectations and, subject to market conditions remaining favourable, I look forward to another satisfactory performance in 2004”.
Ends
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