Stobart's (STOB) rebuilding strategy continues to bear fruit. Strip out restructuring costs and £8m of early repayment charges - after the logistics group slashed net debt by 85 per cent to £19m - and pre-tax profit climbed 72 per cent to £9.3m.
With the balance sheet in much better shape, management is confident that investors will start focusing on the group's energy and airport operations. It has high hopes for these two segments, which posted sales growth of 17 per cent and 16 per cent, respectively, for the year.
Volumes of old timber transported to biomass power stations increased 29 per cent to 1.2m tonnes during the year, as the logistics giant bagged a number of contracts and closed in on its target to supply over 2m tonnes per year by the end of 2017. Stobart also made good on its pledge to increase passenger numbers and revenue per passenger in aviation. At London's Southend airport passenger numbers increased by 9 per cent to 1.1m, while revenues per passenger leapt by the same rate to £20.80.
Chief executive Andrew Tinkler is confident that Stobart is on track to reach its targets and reward patient shareholders with "stellar profit growth" from 2017 onwards. Broker Stifel expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £18.2m for the current year, giving adjusted EPS of 5.3p.
| STOBART (STOB) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 108p | MARKET VALUE: | £354m | |
| TOUCH: | 107-108p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 149p | LOW: 93p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 5.6% | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 124p* | NET DEBT: | 5% | |
| Year to 28 Feb | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 500 | 29.5 | 9.0 | 6.0 |
| 2012 | 492 | 29.2 | 8.5 | 6.0 |
| 2013† | 77 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 6.0 |
| 2014 | 99 | -10.2 | -3.1 | 6.0 |
| 2015 | 117 | -9.4 | -2.4 | 6.0 |
| % change | +18 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: 28 May Payment: 3 Jul *Includes intangible assets of £116m, or 35p a share †Restated to classify part sale of transport and distribution business | ||||
