Dull business but cracking chart, great dividend and ad hoc takeover rumours. I'm happy to settle for that kind of dull!

Record breaking gains in every financial area....

25 April 2012

Fenner PLC



2012 Half Year Results



Fenner PLC, a world leader in reinforced polymer technology, today announces its results for the half year ended 29 February 2012.



Highlights



· Revenue increased by 24% to £412.0m; organic revenue growth was 18%



· Underlying operating profit1 increased by 52% to £55.7m



· Underlying profit before taxation2 increased by 53% to £48.1m; profit before taxation increased by 57% to £41.7m



· Underlying earnings per share2 increased by 57% to 17.1p



· Interim dividend increased by 32% to 3.50p per share, reflecting the Board's confidence in the enhanced quality of the Group's earnings



· Continued underlying margin growth, up 250bps to 13.5%



· Strong trading by both Engineered Conveyor Solutions ("ECS") and Advanced Engineered Products ("AEP")



- ECS underlying operating profit1 increased by 62% to £39.8m on revenues up 25% to £295.0m



- AEP underlying operating profit1 increased by 23% to £20.5m on revenues up 20% to £117.0m



· Growth drivers in core markets remain positive



· Group confident of continued progress in the second half



1 Underlying operating profit is before amortisation of intangible assets acquired



2 Underlying profit before taxation and underlying earnings per share are before amortisation of intangible assets acquired and notional interest on defined benefit post-retirement schemes and the unwinding of discount on provisions



Mark Abrahams, Chairman, commented:



"Trading was very strong in the first half as growth drivers in our core businesses remained positive, underpinned by continuing buoyant demand from mineral extraction and energy sectors.



"The fundamentals on which our strategy is based remain strong and the quality of our earnings continues to improve. Notwithstanding the influence of the current macro-economic environment on some of our markets, our order book remains healthy, we are trading in accordance with expectations and we remain confident in our ability to continue to make progress in the second half of the year."





-ends-

Forward Outlook

Since 29 February 2012, the Group's businesses have traded in accordance with our expectations.



The fundamentals on which our strategy is based remain strong and the quality of our earnings continues to improve. Notwithstanding the influence of the current macro-economic environment on some of our markets, our order book remains healthy, we are trading in accordance with expectations and we remain confident in our ability to continue to make progress in the second half of the year.

Most importantly......



- ECS underlying operating profit1 increased by 62% to £39.8m on revenues up 25% to £295.0m



- AEP underlying operating profit1 increased by 23% to £20.5m on revenues up 20% to £117.0m

BRIEF-Fenner first-half profit rises, confident on H2
25 Apr 2012 - 07:09

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - Fenner PLC :

* Revenue increased by 24% to £412.0M; organic revenue growth was 18%

* Underlying profit before taxation increased by 53% to £48.1M;

* Interim dividend increased by 32% to 3.50P per share

* Confident of continued progress in the second half

((London Equities Newsroom; +44 20 7542 7717))

((For more news, please click here [FENR.L]))

UPDATE 1-Fenner boosted by energy and mining demand
25 Apr 2012 - 07:27

* H1 sales up 24 pct to 412 mln stg

* Underlying pretax profit up 53 pct to 48.1 mln stg

* Confident of continued progress in the second half

* Raises interim dividend by 32 pct to 3.50 pence/shr


(Adds detail)

LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - British industrial conveyor belt maker Fenner reported a higher first-half profit on strong demand from its energy and mining customers, and said it was confident of continued progress through the year.

"Trading was very strong in the first half as growth drivers in our core businesses remained positive," Chairman Mark Abrahams said in a statement on Wednesday.

"Our order book remains healthy, we are trading in accordance with expectations and we remain confident in our ability to continue to make progress in the second half," he added.

For the six months ended Feb 29, underlying pretax profit jumped 53 percent to 48.1 million pounds ($77.7 million). Sales at Fenner, whose belts are predominantly used in the mining industry, were 24 percent higher at 412 million pounds.

The company had said last month it expected a "significant" rise in first-half profits. [ID:nL5E8E812H]

The strong results prompted Fenner to increase interim dividend by 32 percent to 3.50 pence per share.

Shares in the company closed at 446.4 pence on Tuesday.

($1 = 0.6192 British pounds)


(Reporting by Adveith Nair; editing by Rhys Jones)

FENR FENNER article....

http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id=20051237

Fenner FENR


UPGRADE just out......

BRIEF-RESEARCH ALERT-Peel Hunt raises Fenner to buy
25 Apr 2012 - 08:37

April 25 (Reuters) - Fenner PLC :

* Peel Hunt raises Fenner to buy from hold

* Peel Hunt raises Fenner price target to 540P from 490P


For a summary of rating actions and price target changes on European companies:

Reuters Eikon users, click on [RCH/EUROPE]

Reuters 3000Xtra users, double-click [RCH/EUROPE]

Reuters Station users, click .1580 ((Bangalore Equities Newsdesk +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780))

Canaccord Genuity reiterates it's buy TP raised to 562p from 542p

Numis reiterates it's buy TP 560p.

FENR Fenner

So to sum up a whole raft of Broker
support now come in after results
announcement....

A full list of them (brokers) now issuing notes........

25 Apr Fenner PLC FENR Canaccord Genuity Buy 449.10 542.00 562.00 Reiterates

25 Apr Fenner PLC FENR Numis Buy 449.10 560.00 560.00 Reiterates

25 Apr Fenner PLC FENR Jefferies International Buy 449.10 565.00 565.00 Reiterates

25 Apr Fenner PLC FENR Westhouse Securities Buy 449.10 550.00 550.00 Retains

25 Apr Fenner PLC FENR Investec Buy 449.10 500.00 500.00 Retains

FENR FENNER

Analyst comment...

Fenner plc (FENR)08:52 ET Apr 25, 2012
Chief Pulse Comment by Mark S Abrahams

"Trading was very strong in the first half as growth drivers in our core businesses remained positive, underpinned by continuing buoyant demand from mineral extraction and energy sectors," said chairman of Fenner Mark Abrahams. "The fundamentals on which our strategy is based remain strong and the quality of our earnings continues to improve. more
The group has decided to increase its interim dividend by 32 percent to 3.5 pence per share on the back of the strong financial performance. "Trading was very strong in the first half as growth drivers in our core businesses remained positive, underpinned by continuing buoyant demand from mineral extraction and energy sectors," said chairman of Fenner Mark Abrahams. "The fundamentals on which our strategy is based remain strong and the quality of our earnings continues to improve. "Notwithstanding the influence of the current macro economic environment on some of our markets, our order book remains healthy, we are trading in accordance with expectations and we remain confident in our ability to continue to make progress in the second half of the year."

FENNER FENR

A Belting Growth Opportunity
By

Roland HeadEmail .Published in Investing on 25 April 2012

Mining demand drives a 55% increase in profits for this UK manufacturer.

On the day that the UK officially slips back into recession, it is reassuring to know that we still have some quality manufacturing businesses that are delivering strong growth and rising profits.

A real belter
A case in point is Fenner (LSE: FENR), which published its half-year results today, revealing revenues of £412m -- up 24% on last year -- and operating profits of £50.2m, a 55% increase on the same period last year.

Over the last five years, Fenner's annual revenues have risen from £380m to £718.3m, and they are set to top £800m this year. During that time, its share price has doubled -- although anyone who bought in at the height of the slump in 2009 will now be sitting on a ten-bagger!

Belts and seals
Fenner is a manufacturing business with two main divisions. The first of these is its Engineered Conveyor Solutions, which makes conveyor belts for coal mines and other industrial applications. Demand is strong from the global mining industry and Fenner's ECS division delivered a 25% increase in revenue and a 62% increase in underlying operating profit over the last six months.

Fenner's other division, Advanced Engineered Products, makes products such as specialist hydraulic seals, which it sells to the oil, gas, mining and agricultural industries. Revenues for this division rose by 20% over the first half, delivering a 23% rise in underlying operating profit.

More growth
Despite its earnings increasing at a slower rate to last year, Fenner has a PEG ratio of 0.46 based on the last six month's earnings, up from 0.2 last year. A PEG below one suggests a strong bias to growth, and I believe that Fenner's strong growth will continue for at least one more year, albeit at a diminishing rate.

Fenner has a rolling 12-month net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.0, down from 1.3 at the end of 2011. Although this reduction is due to rising earnings, not falling debts, its net debt of £126m is not too burdensome and should be manageable even if earnings growth tails off.

Fenner isn't an income share, but the company has increased dividends steadily in recent years and announced a 32% increase in the interim dividend for the first half of the year, putting it in line to deliver a total yield of 2.3% for the year at today's share price.

More to come?
Fenner reminds me a little of Aggreko (LSE: AGK). It's a successful business that has delivered remarkable growth over a number of years. Like Aggreko, Fenner's current rate of growth cannot be maintained forever and when it eventually moderates, the shares are likely to be re-rated somewhat.

Despite this, I think that Fenner will continue to deliver strong growth for the next year or two at least, and would make a good investment for anyone looking for a maturing growth play that will benefit from strong global demand for commodities.

Sign up for a 30-day free trial to Motley Fool Share Advisor and get immediate access to all of our share recommendations and in-depth analysis.

More from Roland Head:

http://www.fool.co.uk/news/investing/2012/04/25/a-belting-growth-opportunity.aspx?source=ufwflwlnk0000001

Another upgrade just in.....

BRIEF-RESEARCH ALERT-Canaccord genuity raises Fenner target price
25 Apr 2012 - 11:43

April 25 (Reuters) - Fenner PLC :

* Canaccord genuity raises Fenner Plc target price to 562P from 542P;

rating buy



For a summary of rating actions and price target changes on European companies:

Reuters Eikon users, click on [RCH/EUROPE]

Reuters 3000Xtra users, double-click [RCH/EUROPE]

Reuters Station users, click .1580 ((Bangalore Equities Newsdesk +91 80 4135 5800; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780))

View from the FT:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/265144be-8ee6-11e1-ab32-00144feab49a.html#axzz1t7iDW200

Fenner

Broker Views
Date Broker Recommendation Price Old target price New target price Notes

26 Apr Liberum Capital Buy 443.00 455.00 550.00 Reiterates
26 Apr Panmure Gordon Buy 443.00 540.00 555.00 Reiterates

Director maiden purchase...

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201204261031591270C

Another bigger director buy....

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201204261453491667C

Fenner plc (FENR)Apr 28, 2012Chief Pulse Comment by Mark S Abrahams


"Trading was very strong in the first half as growth drivers in our core businesses remained positive, underpinned by continuing buoyant demand from mineral extraction and energy sectors," said chairman of Fenner Mark Abrahams. more
The group has decided to increase its interim dividend by 32 percent to 3.5 pence per share on the back of the strong financial performance. "Trading was very strong in the first half as growth drivers in our core businesses remained positive, underpinned by continuing buoyant demand from mineral extraction and energy sectors," said chairman of Fenner Mark Abrahams

Broker upgrade (late yesterday)......

Fenner FTSE 250 Industrial Buy 565 455.1 24.1% Je

SP Target 565p 24.1% upside

Tipped in the Telegraph....

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/questor/9236895/Questor-share-tip-End-of-large-scale-mining-mergers-is-good-for-Fenner.html

Canaccord backs Fenner
01/05/2012

Michael O'Brien, analyst at Canaccord, has reiterated his 'buy' recommendation on conveyor belt and reinforced polymer product maker Fenner (FENR.L) having met the company's management after last week's publication of robust interim results.

The meeting appears to have gone well: 'Simply put, we believe Fenner is in great shape. Returns are at an all-time high and we forecast will rise further as capacity utilisation is further improved,' O'Brien said.

He added that in his view the current share price misunderstands the group's positioning, as although the shale gas boom will hit coal consumption (an important stream of revenue for the group) in the US, domestic consumption will simply shift to exports. Furthermore, the group's seals division has exposure to the shale gas industry.

O'Brien said he was surprised that the share price hadn't gained more following the interim results. 'We believe continued appreciation of the increasing value add of the Fenner proposition alongside continued improving returns will further drive the price,' he concluded.

Shares in the group closed at 452.07p on Monday, up 4.67p or 1.04%.

http://www.citywire.co.uk/money/the-expert-view-aberdeen-asset-management-fenner-and-creston/a585674?ref=citywire-money-picture-galleries-list#i=5