A growing need for better safety equipment on oil and gas rigs helped Plexus Holdings (POS) deliver an impressive full-year performance. The oil and gas services engineering group's proprietary POS-GRIP method of well-head engineering is rapidly becoming an essential piece of kit as more complex and riskier drilling operations boost demand for better safety equipment.
The POS-GRIP well head connector sits on top of a well and provides protection against blow-outs and the effects of high temperatures. Crucially, it also allows components to be passed into the well without removing the blow-out protector.
Sales grew steadily at both the UK and Continental European Shelf operations, but the best performance came from Africa, Australia and Asia where the contribution to group revenue nearly doubled to 34.2 per cent. Plexus is also developing ways of translating surface technology for subsea use and its Tie-Back product has now passed through its final testing phase. For the first time, this will allow exploration companies to make significant cost savings by converting an exploration well into a production well without having to abandon the well and re-drill.
Broker Cenkos is likely to upgrade its forecasts on the back of these figures but, prior to the results, was forecasting 2014 pre-tax profit of £4.6m, giving EPS of 4.34p.
| PLEXUS HOLDINGS (POS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 254p | MARKET VALUE: | £210m | |
| TOUCH: | 247-256p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 298p | LOW: 170p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.4% | PE RATIO: | 69 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 33p* | NET DEBT: | 5% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 15.1 | 1.80 | 1.27 | 0.69 |
| 2010 | 13.1 | 0.65 | 0.88 | 0.72 |
| 2011 | 15.4 | 1.57 | 1.55 | 0.78 |
| 2012 | 19.7 | 3.09 | 2.99 | 0.89 |
| 2013 | 25.6 | 4.27 | 3.69 | 0.99 |
| % change | +30 | +38 | +23 | +11 |
Ex-div: 30 Oct Payment: 13 Dec *Includes intangible assets of £9.5m, or 11p a share | ||||
