Strong revenue growth in its original equipment business helped Hayward Tyler (HAYT) offset losses from a troublesome US contract and lower margins from its after-market operations.
The pump and motor manufacturer was also buoyed by strong order intake - up 7 per cent to £27.6m. Demand was particularly strong from the nuclear and power generation sectors, with the latter accounting for over half of all orders and the former boosted by a big spares order from South Korea. The same can't be said for the slumping oil and gas industry, which accounted for just 3 per cent of total order intake, but chief executive Ewan Lloyd-Baker expects demand to pick up soon.
Lower after-market margins were caused by a slower period for nuclear spares. Gross margins for original equipment slipped from 15 per cent to 14 per cent due to losses in the US caused by one particularly complex project. The US manufacturing team has since been restructured and operations brought in line with the company's profitable Luton manufacturing base. But the Luton factory is also due for an upgrade, thanks to a £3.5m grant from the Regional Growth Fund and £1.15m from the Civil Nuclear Sharing in Growth programme.
Broker FinnCap expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £4.6m for the full financial year, giving adjusted EPS of 7.4p - up from £4m and 6.5p last year.
| HAYWARD TYLER (HAYT) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 84p | MARKET VALUE: | £38m | |
| TOUCH: | 82-85p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 95p | LOW: 63p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 27p* | NET DEBT: | 64% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 20.3 | 1.82 | 2.00 | 0.500 |
| 2014 | 24.0 | 1.84 | 3.26 | 0.525 |
| % change | +18 | +1 | +63 | +5 |
Ex-div: 22 Jan Payment: 5 Feb *Includes intangible assets of £2.9m, or 6p a share | ||||
