Camellia (CAM) must be wondering when its good karma is going to kick in. The sprawling agriculture, financial services and engineering company makes a feature of contributing to the provision of healthcare and social services in the areas where it grows its produce. But problems across almost all the conglomerate's key divisions saw its 2014 earnings per share reduced to a tenth of the previous year's value.
The company takes its name from the humble tea leaf that supports a substantial part of its agriculture and horticulture division, and it was falling tea prices that hit profitability in Bangladesh, Kenya and Malawi, while bad weather also affected its India plantations. Profit across the division was down 34 per cent.
Meanwhile, Camellia is shutting down its struggling AKD Engineering business, which services the North Sea oil sector, after substantial losses on two large contracts. The engineering division as a whole posted a £8.4m loss. Added to this was a one-off writedown on a Bermuda investment whose market value had fallen below book cost. To top it off, the company is "reviewing its options" as regards its struggling private bank Duncan Lawrie, which is struggling to generate a return in the low interest rate environment. This division lost £2.5m.
Broker Charles Stanley expects EPS of 14.2p in 2015, rising to 436p in 2016.
| CAMELLIA (CAM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 9,020p | MARKET VALUE: | £253m | |
| TOUCH: | 9,020-9,099p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 11,300p | LOW: 8,450p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1% | PE RATIO: | 88 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 11,489p | NET CASH: | £53.9m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 251 | 73.1 | 1,511 | 110 |
| 2011 | 247 | 58.7 | 1,160 | 114 |
| 2012 | 262 | 69.7 | 1,123 | 120 |
| 2013 | 251 | 59.6 | 1,020 | 125 |
| 2014 | 239 | 22.0 | 103 | 126 |
| % change | -5 | -63 | -90 | +1 |
Ex-div: 11 Jun Payment: 3 Jul | ||||
