Latest News
14 May 2007
Announcement of Interim Results for the six months ended 31 March 2007
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Unaudited |
Unaudited |
Audited |
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Six months ended |
Six months ended |
Year ended |
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£m |
£m
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£m |
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Revenue |
68.2 |
63.5 |
128.2 |
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Operating profit (1) |
10.1 |
9.3 |
19.4 |
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Profit before tax (2) |
10.5 |
20.3 |
31.2 |
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Adjusted profit before tax |
10.7 |
9.7 |
20.4 |
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Free cash flow (2) |
1.7 |
15.2 |
24.3 |
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Pence |
Pence |
Pence |
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Basic earnings per share (2) |
30.2 |
69.9 |
105.5 |
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Adjusted earnings per share |
31.6 |
28.9 |
62.8 |
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Dividends per share |
9.0 |
8.0 |
23.0 |
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Free cash flow per share (2) |
7.5 |
67.1 |
108.2 |
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- Revenue and adjusted profit before tax up 7% and 10% respectively; results impacted by losses of £0.5m on currency translation. Operating margins increased to 14.8% (2006: 14.6%).
- Adjusting for currency effects and for the contribution from acquisitions, underlying revenue and operating profits were up 8% and 12% respectively.
- Results benefited from strong growth in European Controls businesses in Defence, Aerospace and Motorsport. Seals business impacted by slow-down in North American economy but grew modestly on an underlying basis. Life Sciences business was up on the comparable period last year, benefiting from the acquisition of CBISS in October 2006.
- Adjusted earnings per share up 9% at 31.6p; interim dividend up 1.0p (+12.5%) to 9.0p.
- Free cash flow of £1.7m for the period and cash funds at 31 March 2007 of £28.9m.
Commenting on the results for the period, Bruce Thompson, Diploma’s Chief Executive said:
“The results in the first half demonstrate that underlying organic growth remains robust. With trading conditions experienced in the first half broadly expected to continue in the second half of the year and despite the continuing negative impact of the strength of sterling on the results of the overseas businesses, the Group is confident of showing further progress in 2007.”
Notes:
Diploma PLC uses alternative performance measures as key financial indicators to assess the underlying performance of the Group. These include adjusted profit before tax, adjusted earnings per share and free cash flow. The narrative in this Announcement is based on these alternative measures and an explanation is set out in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in this Interim Announcement.
The full results are available to download in PDF format.
For further enquiries please contact: |
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Bruce Thompson , Chief Executive Officer |
020 7638 0934 |
Nigel Lingwood , Group Finance Director |
020 7448 4875 |
Ian Seaton , Bankside Consultants |
020 7367 8891 |
NOTE TO EDITORS:
Diploma PLC is an international group of specialised distribution businesses operating in three sectors:
Life Sciences – suppliers of consumables, instrumentation and related services to research, environmental and clinical diagnostic laboratories. Principal companies are Anachem, a1-envirosciences and CBISS in Europe and Somagen in Canada.
Seals – Suppliers of hydraulic seals, gaskets, cylinders and attachment kits for heavy mobile machinery. Principal companies are Hercules Bulldog Sealing Products and HKX in North America and FPE in the UK.
Controls – Suppliers of specialised wiring, connectors, control devices and fasteners for a range of technically demanding applications. Principal companies are IS Group in the UK and US, Sommer Filcon in Germany and Hawco in the UK.
Within each of these sectors, the Diploma businesses serve industry segments with long term growth potential and with the opportunity for sustainable superior margins through the quality of customer service, depth of technical support and value adding activities.
Further information on Diploma PLC can be found at www.diplomaplc.com