11 December 2018 – final results
The specialist engineering group has announced its results for the year to 30 September and these have shown a reduction in revenue to £32.2m (2017: £34.6m), whilst adjusted pre-tax profits have emerged at £153k (2017: £1.23m). Adjusted earnings per share fell to 0.7p (2017: 10.0p) and no dividend was declared. Net debt at the year end was £6.7m (2017 : £11.1m). These results were broadly in line with expectations although following the disposal of non-core activities the group is well-placed to take advantage of an upturn in the oil and gas markets in the current financial year. Order intake at the group has improved and the balance sheet will be strengthened further following the disposal of the Alternative Energy business announced earlier in the week. In the current year, pre-tax profits could rise to £1.9m for earnings per share of 9.0p and this would put the shares on a very modest p/e ratio. The shares remain a BUY.