PORTMEIRION GROUP PLC Portmeirion Group PLC - PMP Preliminary Results
Released 07:00 09-Mar-2016
RNS Number : 4706R Portmeirion Group PLC 09 March 2016
2015 £m | 2014 £m | Increase % | |
Revenue | 68.7 | 61.4 | 11.9 |
Pre-tax profit | 8.6 | 7.6 | 13.6 |
EBITDA | 9.7 | 8.9 | 9.8 |
Basic earnings per share | 66.02p | 57.64p | 14.5 |
Dividends paid and proposed per share in respect of the year | 30.00p | 26.50p | 13.2 |
Seventh consecutive year of record Group revenue which increased by 11.9% to £68.7 million (2014: £61.4 million)
Profit before tax increased 13.6% to an all-time high of £8.6 million (2014: £7.6 million)
Total dividend paid and proposed for 2015 increased by 13.2% to 30.00p (2014: 26.50p)
Revenue growth in USA, UK and Asia
Stocks reduced by £2.8 million to £12.7 million (2014: £15.5 million)
Cash balance increased to £11.1 million (2014: £5.9 million)
New kiln installed within timescale and budget and now in production
Ted Baker range wins Best Licensed Home Décor, Tableware or Housewares range at The Licensing Awards
Attained Investors in People silver level and became first company in the UK to be awarded with the new Investment in Young People (IiYP) award
2016 celebrates 200th Anniversary of Blue Italian range
Dick Steele, Non-executive Chairman commented:
"We are delighted to be reporting another record year. Our core values of innovation, targeted product development and operational excellence remain unchanged. Trading in the first two months of the current year is ahead of the comparative period in 2015. The outlook for 2016 is positive."
Portmeirion Group PLC Business ReviewPortmeirion enjoyed a seventh consecutive year of record sales in 2015 with revenues and earnings being driven to their highest ever levels. This outcome, together with our confidence for the future, has enabled us to increase our dividend for the seventh successive year. While we have improved our sales in the United States and the United Kingdom we have suffered what we believe to be a temporary slowdown in South Korean sales as the local economic conditions and attitudes towards luxury goods have softened. However, our diversified product range, supply base and wide markets have enabled us to maintain our steady progress elsewhere.
DividendsThe Board is recommending a final dividend of 23.90 pence per share bringing the total paid and proposed for the year to 30.00 pence per share, an increase of 13.2% over the total amounts paid in respect of 2014; this is a 13.8% increase over the final dividend for 2014.
The final dividend will be paid, subject to shareholders' approval at the AGM on 19 May 2016, on 25 May 2016 to shareholders on the register on 22 April 2016.
The dividends paid and proposed for 2015 are covered 2.2 times by earnings (2014: 2.2 times). The Board continues to consider that a level of dividend being twice covered is an appropriate and sustainable level for the business.
Over the last seven years we have increased our total dividends by an average of 10.7% per annum compound and our total dividend is now more than double the amount for 2008.
We listed on the London Stock Exchange 28 years ago in 1988; the issue price of our shares at flotation was £1.80 each. Our share price has grown some sixfold since 1988 and our total dividends have amounted to £3.66 per share during that period. We have never cut or withheld our dividend as a listed company.
The Board is committed to a progressive dividend policy; we believe that this is what our shareholders expect of us, why they bought Portmeirion shares and why they continue to hold them. We aim to maintain a sustainable and fair level of dividend cover and to increase our dividends whenever our results, cash balances and prudent views of future trading and business investment needs allow us so to do. Our consistent policy is to increase the interim dividend each year by the same percentage as the final dividend of the preceding year, subject of course to prevailing conditions.
RevenuesRevenues were £68.7 million for the year, an increase of 11.9% over the previous year (2014:
£61.4 million). This represents a seventh consecutive year of record revenues for the Company. At a constant US dollar exchange rate our revenue increase would have been a little lower at 8.4%.
Our largest market remains the United States, which represents nearly a third of our sales. We finished the year 11.1% above last year in translated figures in the United States, but by 3.1% ahead in local currency. Continuing improvements in economic conditions in the United States give cause for optimism, however set against this must be the uncertainty around the upcoming presidential elections.
The United Kingdom remains our second largest market accounting for just over a quarter of our revenues; here we increased sales by 12.5% over 2014. The EU referendum is imminent and
that carries its own uncertainties both for the UK market and our wider EU markets. However, our sales into the EU (other than the UK) are less than 3% of our revenues, so the short term impact of an exit would be slight in terms of global sales. We do continue to identify the EU as a market of major potential.
Our sales to South Korea fell back by 18.1% compared to 2014. This is the first notable sales slowdown for us in South Korea since we first started trading there nearly two decades ago; the economy has been weak and this has translated into a greater effect on the sales of luxury brands such as Portmeirion. We believe that this market is now stabilising for us. Despite such a drop in our third largest market we have still achieved overall sales growth, this is because of our emphasis on diversified global sales.
Sales growth in the rest of the world was a very impressive 56.4% during the year, with a starring performance in India which grew by 140.8% to consolidate that market as our fourth largest at over 8% of sales. Thailand and Taiwan were also areas of high growth for us. We supply our products to over sixty countries throughout the world.
Online sales, principally to United Kingdom and United States customers, were £2.5 million and are included in the sales figures quoted above. This was an excellent increase at 26.6% above 2014. This route to market continues to provide growth opportunities and sits firmly within our emphasis on diversity.
We continue to be well served by our diversified strategy encompassing widely differing geographies, products, customers and routes to market. These strategies enable us to pursue opportunities as and when they appear.
ProfitsEarnings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased by 9.8% to £9.7 million in the year (2014: £8.9 million). Profit before taxation was £8.6 million, an increase of 13.6% over the comparative year (2014: £7.6 million). Both of these figures represent another record year for Portmeirion.
Basic earnings per share increased by 14.5%, dividends have been increased by 13.2%; dividend cover is well within comfort levels.
Profit growth remains ahead of revenue growth; as we have a manufacturing facility with a fixed cost base then revenue growth feeds through to improved profit growth.
We continue to suffer from the imposition of Anti-Dumping Duty which has been applied to some of our European sales. The cost to the business is cumulatively over £2 million.
Nearly all of our corporate profits are subject to taxation in either the United Kingdom or the United States. We do not engage in any exotic tax planning exercises. The corporate taxation which we paid in 2015 amounted to £2.0 million.
Balance SheetA significant reduction in inventories has been achieved this year, peak stocks in 2015 were
£17.4 million (2014 peak: £17.3 million), our year end stock balances were £12.7 million (2014 year end: £15.5 million). This is an area for ongoing management focus in 2016. Our stock provisioning policies are unchanged and rigorous.
Cash balances finished the year at £11.1 million, being £5.2 million above 2014 year end (2014:
£5.9 million). In addition to the strong revenue, profit and dividend growth this excellent increase in our cash balances is one of the most significant achievements of the year. These cash balances were delivered after paying dividends of £2.9 million (2014: £2.6 million), corporate taxation of £2.0 million (2014: £1.5 million) and capital investments of £1.5 million (2014: £0.9
Portmeirion Group plc issued this content on 09 March 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 09 March 2016 09:28:28 UTC
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