Marine engineer James Fisher (FSJ) is the latest company to grumble about currency headwinds in the first half of 2014. As a result of these, the marine support division took a £1m hit to profits, which did little to help an already sluggish start to the year. Lower market activity in South East Asia and Nigeria, combined with delays to bridge monitoring contracts, pushed underlying profits down 18 per cent to £7.7m.
But this is "nothing to be concerned about", says chief executive Nick Henry. Underlying operating profit from the offshore oil division soared 32 per cent to £11.9m, thanks to long-term contracts in Latin America, West Africa and the Asia Pacific regions. Meanwhile, the specialist technical division reported a 22 per cent increase in underlying operating profit to £4.5m. Demand is riding high for this unit, which serves the defence sector, among others. Divex - a subsidiary James Fisher bought last year - just won another contract to supply a saturation diving system for a BP exploration project in the Caspian Sea.
At group level, underlying operating profits jumped 10 per cent to £24m. Strip out the effect of acquisitions and disposals, as well as currency fluctuations, and the growth rate was even higher, at 14 per cent. Analysts at Investec expect pre-tax profits of £46.8m for 2014, giving EPS of 73.5p.
| JAMES FISHER (FSJ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,400p | MARKET VALUE: | £703m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,395-1,402p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,565p | LOW: 1,056p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 17 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 377p* | NET DEBT: | 43% | |
| Half-year to 30 June | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 201 | 18.6 | 28.6 | 6.46 |
| 2014 | 216 | 20.8 | 32.4 | 7.1 |
| % change | +7 | +12 | +13 | +10 |
Ex-div: 1 Oct Payment: 3 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £127m, or 253p a share | ||||
