| |
|
As reported |
At 2017 exchange rates |
|
|
| |
2018 |
Change |
2018 |
Change |
2017 |
| Continuing operations |
|
|
|
|
|
| Revenue |
£297m |
-3% |
£306m |
- |
£307m |
| Underlying EBITDA* |
£50m |
-9% |
£51m |
-7% |
£55m |
| Underlying operating profit* |
£31m |
- |
£32m |
+3% |
£31m |
| Underlying profit before tax* |
£25m |
+ 25% |
£26m |
+30% |
£20m |
| Statutory loss before tax |
£(22)m |
|
|
|
£(7)m |
| Underlying earnings per share* |
6.9p |
+ 17% |
|
|
5.9p |
| Dividend per share |
3.3p |
+ 10% |
|
|
3.0p |
| Net debt |
£82m |
+ 2% |
|
|
£80m |
Key points
- Underlying operating profit* flat at £31m, reflecting the impact of the incident at our UK Countermeasures site in August offsetting growth in US countermeasures
- Strategic decision announced on 15 November 2018 to exit commodity Energetics businesses; classified as discontinued and held for sale resulting in impairment charges of £69m. Year end order book of these businesses was £68m (2017: £153m)
- Net debt flat year on year, reflecting good operational cash generation, offset by the start of the investment in the Tennessee facility and the impact of the incident at our UK Countermeasures site. Net debt : EBITDA of 1.64x and pension fund in IAS19 surplus
- Contract awards on US counter-IED, Chemical and Biological Detection Programs of Record
- Order book of the continuing business at year end of £394m (2017: £325m), increase driven by growth in Energetics and US Countermeasures. £242m currently due as revenue in FY19, approximately 70% coverage of FY19 targeted revenue
- Board recommending a final dividend of 2.2p per ordinary share, giving a total dividend of 3.3p per ordinary share (2017: 3.0p)
- Board’s expectations for 2019 performance remain unchanged, again with a significant H2 weighting
Michael Ord, Chemring Group Chief Executive, commented:
“2018 was a mix of financial and operational progress, offset by the impact of the incident at our Countermeasures site in August. We ended 2018 in line with our revised expectations. Our trading since the start of the current financial year has been in line with the Board’s expectations across all businesses.
Since joining the Group six months ago, I have been impressed by the technological spread that Chemring has and the strength of our positions in many of our markets. I have also been struck by the depth of technical capability within our workforce. I have and will continue to place the greatest emphasis on safety. Protecting our people, customers and communities has to be at the heart of what we do.
With high technology products and market leading positions Chemring has the platforms for long-term future growth. We have already achieved a number of significant milestones on the journey to build a stronger business and will continue to focus our efforts on re-structuring, simplifying and strengthening the business in order to capitalise on our significant market opportunities.
I am excited about the prospects of the Group and look forward to making further progress in 2019.”
Notes:
*The principal Alternative Performance Measures (“APMs”) presented are the underlying measures of earnings which exclude discontinued operations, exceptional items, gain or loss on the movement on the fair value of derivative financial instruments, and the amortisation of acquired intangibles. The directors believe that these APMs improve the comparability of information between reporting periods. The term underlying is not defined under IFRS and may not be comparable with similarly titled measures used by other companies.
All profit and earnings per share figures in this announcement relate to underlying business performance (as defined above) unless otherwise stated.
For further information:
| Rupert Pittman |
Group Director of Corporate Affairs, Chemring Group PLC |
01794 833901 |
Andrew Jaques
Nessya Hart
Luke Briggs |
MHP Communications |
020 3128 8100 |
View the full press release in PDF format.