Despite tough market conditions, plant hire company Speedy Hire (SDY) grew half-year underlying pre-tax profit by an impressive 37.5 per cent year-on-year to £6.6m with underlying revenue having risen 6.4 per cent. That reflected decent trading in both the UK and overseas operations and was also helped by a focus on costs.
Even though the UK construction market continues to struggle, a focus on core customers in water, waste, energy and transport markets, including work related to London's Crossrail project, helped UK & Ireland revenue rise 4.2 per cent to £160.6m - divisional operating profit rose from £8m to £11.9m. The much smaller international business, meanwhile, benefited from strong sales in the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Egypt - helping revenue there to jump by £3.7m to £8.5m and turning last year's £800,000 operating loss into a £300,000 profit. Speedy also boosted investment in its hire fleet with net capital spending rising from £2.2m to £9m - increasing the value of the group's property plant and equipment to £250.8m.
Broker N+1 Singer expects that progress to continue and forecasts adjusted full-year pre-tax profit of £17m, giving EPS of 2.6p (2012: £12.4m/1.7p), rising to £20.8m and 3.2p, respectively, in 2014.
SPEEDY HIRE (SDY) | ||||
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ORD PRICE: | 34p | MARKET VALUE: | £176m | |
TOUCH: | 34-34.25p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 35p | LOW: 18.5p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.4% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 45p* | NET DEBT: | 35% |
Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2011 | 162 | -2.3 | -0.16 | 0.20 |
2012 | 169 | 4.7 | 0.81 | 0.22 |
% change | +5 | - | - | +10 |
Ex-div: 2 Jan Payment: 25 Jan *Includes intangible assets of £56m, or 11p per share. |