News Archive (2007 - 2011)
17 November 2008
Announcement of Preliminary Results for year ended
30 September 2008
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The full results are available to download in PDF format
| 2008 | 2007 | |
| £m | £m | |
| Revenue | 172.3 | 140.7 |
| Operating profit(1) | 27.3 | 22.1 |
| Operating margin(1) | 15.8% | 15.7% |
| Adjusted profit before tax(1), (2) | 27.5 | 23.3 |
| Profit before tax | 21.8 | 22.3 |
| Free cash flow(2) | 18.0 | 13.2 |
| Pence | Pence | |
| Adjusted earnings per share(1), (2), (3) | 16.4 | 14.0 |
| Basic earning per share(3) | 11.8 | 12.7 |
| Total dividends per share(3) | 7.5 | 5.4 |
| Free cash flow per share(2) ,(3) | 16.0 | 11.7 |
| (1) Before amortisation of acquisition intangible assets. (2) Alternative performance measures are defined in note 2 to the consolidated financial statements in this Preliminary Announcement. (3) Comparative numbers restated to adjust for the impact of the January 2008 bonus issue. |
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- Revenue and adjusted profit before tax up 22% and 18% respectively; adjusted earnings per share up 17% at 16.4p.
- Strong contributions from acquisitions completed in 2007.
- Underlying revenue and operating profits up 3%, after adjusting for currency effects and acquisitions. Operating margins remain strong and stable.
- Results demonstrate the resilience of the businesses; achieved through focus on specialised technical products and services largely funded by operating, rather than capital budgets.
- Free cash flow of £18.0m for the year; net cash funds at 30 September 2008 were £15.7m with additional committed bank facilities of £20.0m.
- Total dividends up 39% to 7.5p, reflecting the Directors' policy to target dividend cover towards 2.0 times, based on adjusted earnings per share.
Commenting on the results for the year, Bruce Thompson, Diploma's Chief Executive said:
"The acquisitions completed last year have contributed to another year of double digit growth in earnings and strong cash flow. At the same time underlying organic growth was achieved in challenging markets, proving the resilience of the Group's businesses. With carefully selected, value enhancing acquisitions adding to modest organic growth, the Board is confident of making further progress in 2009."
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 Preliminary Announcement.
| For further enquiries please contact: | |
| Bruce Thompson, Chief Executive Officer | 020 7549 5700 |
| Nigel Lingwood, Group Finance Director | 020 7549 5705 |
| Simon Bloomfield, Bankside Consultants | 020 7367 8861 |
Note to Editor:
Diploma PLC is an international group of businesses supplying specialised technical products and services to the Life Sciences, Seals and Controls industries.
Diploma achieves stable growth and attractive margins from its focus on supplying specialised technical products to markets which value high levels of customer service, technical support and value adding activities. A high proportion of revenues are generated from essential products and services funded by operating, rather than capital budgets.
The Group employs ca. 1,000 employees and its principal operating businesses are located in the UK, Germany, US and Canada.
Over the last five years, the Group has grown adjusted earnings per share at an average of ca. 21% p.a. through a combination of organic growth and acquisitions. The current market capitalisation is ca. £130m.
Further information on Diploma PLC can be found at www.diplomaplc.com