Ultra Electronics Holdings plc (LON:ULE) today announced Audited Preliminary Results for the year ended 31 December 2018
|
£’m |
Year to 31 Dec 18 |
Year to 31 Dec 17 |
Change % |
|
|
Reported |
Organic(2) |
|||
|
Order book |
983.9 |
897.4 |
+9.6 |
+5.2 |
|
Revenue |
766.7 |
775.4 |
-1.1 |
+2.2 |
|
Underlying(1) |
|
|
|
|
|
Operating profit |
112.7 |
120.1 |
-6.2 |
-4.3 |
|
Profit before tax |
101.4 |
110.0 |
-7.8 |
|
|
EPS (p) |
109.5 |
116.7 |
-6.2 |
|
|
Statutory |
|
|
|
|
|
Operating profit |
65.3 |
61.5 |
+6.2 |
|
|
Profit before tax |
42.6 |
60.6 |
-29.7 |
|
|
EPS (p) |
43.6 |
66.2 |
-34.1 |
|
|
Final dividend per share (p) |
37.0 |
35.0 |
+5.7 |
|
|
Total dividend per share (p) |
51.6 |
49.6 |
+4.0 |
|
|
Net debt to EBITDA(3) |
1.25x |
0.56x |
|
|
· Results for 2018 encouraging
o Return to organic(2) revenue growth
o Profits as anticipated, better than expected cash conversion of 79% (2017: 97%)
o Total dividend up 4.0% to 51.6p
· Fundamentally good businesses
o Strong technology base
o Talented and committed people
· Exciting improvement opportunities
o Focus: On the things we’re good at where we can add value
o Fix: Core processes, enhance capabilities, better leverage strengths and evolve culture
o Grow: Through strategic investment
· Positive outlook
o Key wins on new and existing programmes
o Well positioned in growth markets
o 2019 organic(2) opening order book up 5.2% (66% opening order cover)
o Increased investment in technology, processes and systems
Simon Pryce, Ultra Electronics Holdings Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“After a good second half and having addressed a number of legacy issues, we delivered an encouraging set of results in 2018. While there is much work to be done in the next phase of Ultra’s development, we now have a solid platform from which to grow and deliver against our goal of creating long term, sustainable value for all our stakeholders.
Significant additional potential exists in Ultra through focusing the Group on where we add value, improving core processes and better leveraging the combined Group’s strengths and capabilities. We anticipate that 2019 will be a year of good underlying progress and we look forward to an exciting future of growth with confidence.”
