16 April 2019 – final results

The company, which is a specialist supplier of technical fluid power components and services, has issued its final results for the year to 31 December.  These have revealed a 35% increase in revenues to £111.1m (2017: £78.3m) whilst underlying profit before tax rose to £10.68m (2017: £8.68m)  Earnings per share on the same basis declined to 8.34p (2017: 9.69p)  due to an increase in the tax charge.  The dividend for the year was raised to 6.07p (2017: 5.78p).  These results benefitted from both organic growth and the impact of acquisitions and demonstrate the success of the group’s strategy.  As part of its expansion plans the group has also strengthened its management team whilst it is also focused on controlling costs to improve margins.  Net debt at the year end was £19.9m (2017: £14.9m) reflecting the acquisitions made during the year.  We continue to believe that prospects for the company look good and therefore maintain our recommendation of BUY.