Final results
Financial Highlights
· Revenue 6.3% higher at £411.7m
· Underlying operating profit 6.0% higher at £72.6m
· Underlying operating margin robust at 17.6% despite continued input cost inflation
· Underlying basic earnings per share from continuing operations 10.1% higher at 27.2 pence
· Net debt down to 1.6 times EBITDA2
· Recommended final dividend of 7.5 pence per share giving a full year dividend of 11.1 pence per share, 9.9% higher
Operational Highlights
· Strong performance in UK - revenue growth at 8.1%
· Residential Systems segment revenue growth of 10.3% driven by demand in the new housebuild sector, RMI markets remain subdued
· Disposal of Polypipe France for €16.5m on a cash-free, debt-free, normalised working capital basis expected to complete in the first half of 2018
· Decisive action taken to close Dubai factory and pursue alternative manufacturing strategy in the Middle East
· Management succession implemented, Paul James joined as CFO on 5 March 2018
Outlook
· Fundamentals in Residential Systems segment continue to be strong, driven by the new housebuild sector but UK RMI likely to remain challenging
· Commercial and Infrastructure project pipeline remains encouraging, although project delays impacting short-term performance
· Benefit of selling price increases, due to the pass-through of further polymer and other cost inflation, expected to come through from second quarter
· 2018 will be another year of progress for the Group and our expectations for the year remain unchanged