Senior plc (LON:SNR) has announced its interim results for the half-year ended 30 June 2024.
| FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS | Half-year to 30 June | change | change (constant currency) | (4) | |||
| 2024 | 2023 | ||||||
| REVENUE | £501.4m | £482.3m | +4% | +7% | |||
| OPERATING PROFIT | £20.6m | £20.8m | -1% | +2% | |||
| ADJUSTED OPERATING PROFIT (1) | £25.1m | £22.9m | +10% | +13% | |||
| ADJUSTED OPERATING MARGIN (1) | 5.0% | 4.7% | +30 bps | +30 bps | |||
| PROFIT BEFORE TAX | £13.2m | £13.5m | -2% | +1% | |||
| ADJUSTED PROFIT BEFORE TAX (1) | £18.4m | £17.6m | +5% | +8% | |||
| BASIC EARNINGS PER SHARE | 2.63p | 2.80p | -6% | ||||
| ADJUSTED EARNINGS PER SHARE (1) | 3.55p | 3.53p | +1% | ||||
| INTERIM DIVIDEND PER SHARE | 0.75p | 0.60p | +25% | ||||
| FREE CASH FLOW (2) | £3.0m | £(11.8)m | +125% | ||||
| NET DEBT EXCLUDING CAPITALISED LEASES (2)– 30 June 2024 / 31 December 2023 | £156.1m | £132.0m | £24m increase | ||||
| ROCE (3) | 7.3% | 6.3% | +100bps | ||||
Highlights
| ● | Robust trading performance with sales up 7%(4) and adjusted operating profit up 13%(4) |
| ● | Continued growth in order book, book-to-bill of 1.15 |
| ● | Notable contract wins in both Aerospace and Flexonics divisions |
| ● | Full-year outlook unchanged with good growth anticipated for the full-year |
| ● | Interim dividend increased by 25% to 0.75p |
Commenting on the results, David Squires, Group Chief Executive Officer of Senior plc, said:
“Senior has delivered a robust set of results that are in line with our expectations.
Our Aerospace revenue and profits have grown strongly notwithstanding 737 MAX volumes being subdued as a consequence of the ongoing situation at Boeing.
Our Flexonics Division continued to perform well, maintaining double digit margins, albeit revenues and profits were lower as land vehicle markets started to normalise and upstream oil & gas customers reduced inventory levels.
For the full-year we still expect to maintain good performance in Flexonics with H1 slightly higher than H2 due to a return to more typical levels of land vehicle demand.
The Group’s diversified position across key civil and defence aircraft platforms, strong order intake and increasing aircraft build rates are expected to drive good growth in Aerospace for the full-year. Higher volumes, operational efficiency benefits and improved pricing are expected to result in H2 performance being higher than H1.
Overall, the Board’s expectations of good growth for the Group in 2024 are unchanged.”
Notes
This Release, together with other information on Senior plc, can be found at: www.seniorplc.com
| (1) | Adjusted operating profit and adjusted profit before tax are stated before £0.8m amortisation of intangible assets from acquisitions (H1 2023 – £1.1m), £nil net restructuring costs (H1 2023 – £0.9m), £nil US pension settlement costs (H1 2023 – £0.1m), £2.6m site relocation costs (H1 2023 – £nil) and £1.1m US class action lawsuit (H1 2023 – £nil). Adjusted profit before tax is also stated before costs associated with corporate undertakings of £0.7m (H1 2023 – £2.0m). A reconciliation of adjusted operating profit to operating profit is shown in Note 4. Adjusted operating margin is the ratio of adjusted operating profit to revenue. |
| (2) | See Note 12b and 12c for derivation of free cash flow and of net debt, respectively. |
| (3) | Return on capital employed (“ROCE”) is derived from annual adjusted operating profit (as defined in Note 4) divided by the average of the capital employed at the start and end of that twelve-month period, capital employed being total equity plus net debt (as derived in Note 12c). |
| (4) | Constant currency is H1 2023 results translated using H1 2024 average exchange rates. |
The following measures are used for the purpose of assessing covenant compliance for the Group’s borrowing facilities:
| ● | EBITDA is adjusted profit before tax and before interest, depreciation, amortisation and profit or loss on sale of property, plant and equipment. It also excludes EBITDA from businesses which have been disposed and includes EBITDA for businesses acquired and it is based on frozen GAAP (pre-IFRS 16). EBITDA for the 12-month period ending June 2024 was £85.8m. |
| ● | Net debt is defined in Note 12c. It is based on frozen GAAP (pre-IFRS 16) and as required by the covenant definition, it is restated using 12-month average exchange rates. |
| ● | Interest is adjusted finance costs and finance income before net finance income of retirement benefits. It also excludes interest from businesses which have been disposed and it is based on frozen GAAP (pre-IFRS 16). |
| ● | The definition of adjusted items in the Condensed Consolidated Income Statement is included in Note 4. |
The Group’s principal foreign exchange translation exposure is to the US Dollar. The average rate applied in the translation of Income Statement and cash flow items for H1 2024 was $1.26 (H1 2023 – $1.23) and the rate applied in the translation of balance sheet items at 30 June 2024 was $1.26 (30 June 2023 – $1.27; 31 December 2023 – $1.27). Our current assumption is that the average US Dollar to Pound Sterling exchange rate for the full-year 2024 is $1.27.
Webcast
There will be a presentation on Monday 5 August 2024 at 09:30am BST accessible via a live webcast on Senior’s website at www.seniorplc.com/investors. The webcast will be made available on the website for subsequent viewing.
