AMEC's (AMEC) shares slipped modestly on the back of these figures after management at the engineering consultancy signalled a less bullish outlook on revenues and margins than the market had been expecting. And despite a hefty dividend hike, investors may have been unimpressed with the absence of a new share buy-back scheme - last year's £400m buy-back programme was completed this month.
Still, AMEC grew trading profit 11 per cent in the year to £331m - marginally ahead of consensus estimates Although the group's margin did fall 120 basis points to 8 per cent, primarily as a result of AMEC having taken on more procurement work for some of its largest clients - which is lower-margin business than its core engineering work. But group margins are expected to improve gradually at the headline level throughout 2013, with "low-to-mid single digit" revenue growth anticipated (excluding procurement), while procurement work is expected to be £200m lower than in 2012. AMEC retains a strong order backlog of £3.6bn, too, which broadly static on the year. The group should benefit from the £159m spent on three acquisitions in the period, too - Serco's nuclear business, Australian consultancy Unidel and 50 per cent of Brazilian engineer, Kromav Engenharia.
Prior to these figures JP Morgan Cazenove had been expecting adjusted EPS of 92.95p for 2013 (2012: 82p).
| AMEC AMEC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,067p | MARKET VALUE: | £3.2bn | |
| TOUCH: | 1,065-1,068p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,189p | LOW: 914p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.4% | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 364p* | NET CASH: | £99m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 2.61 | 307 | 64.5 | 15.4 |
| 2009 | 2.54 | 204 | 47.6 | 17.7 |
| 2010 | 2.95 | 259 | 73.0 | 26.5 |
| 2011 | 3.26 | 259 | 63.3 | 30.5 |
| 2012 | 4.16 | 263 | 67.0 | 36.5 |
| % change | +28 | +2 | +6 | +20 |
Ex-div: 29 May Payment: 1 Jul *Includes intangible assets of £969m, or 326p a share | ||||
