Against a challenging backdrop, specialist oil equipment manufacturer Plexus (POS) bumped up full-year revenue and doubled the annual dividend payout. The Aberdeen-based group, which has developed the proprietary POS-GRIP wellhead system, also recorded a 4 per cent rise in gross profit to £19.9m for the year to June. But the most pleasing developments came after the period-end.
First, management has identified the 'subsea' and 'Ultra High Pressure/High Temperature (X-HP/HT)' segments as prime growth areas in oil services, so the September launch of the Python Subsea Wellhead system was seen as a "defining moment of Plexus's year". Second, the group signed a licensing agreement in July with Yantai Jereh Oilfield Services, a large Chinese oil services provider, to facilitate the roll-out of POS-GRIP technologies into the wider Asian, Brazilian and Middle Eastern markets. Finally, the group also signed a highly significant contract with Total E&P Norge to supply its wellhead systems on the X-HP/HT Solaris gas exploration well in the Graben area of the North Sea. Industry technical analysts will be watching closely.
Broker Cenkos predicts adjusted EPS of 2.26p for the financial year ending June 2016, against 5.98p in FY2015.
| PLEXUS (POS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 161p | MARKET VALUE: | £144m | |
| TOUCH: | 161-163p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 255p | LOW: 148p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.4% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 43p* | NET DEBT: | 8% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 15.4 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 0.78 |
| 2012 | 19.7 | 3.1 | 3.0 | 0.89 |
| 2013 | 25.6 | 4.3 | 3.7 | 0.99 |
| 2014 (restated) | 27.0 | 5.4 | 5.4 | 1.10 |
| 2015 | 28.5 | 5.9 | 6.4 | 2.26 |
| % change | +6 | +10 | +18 | +105 |
Ex-div: 5 Nov Payment: 16 Dec *Includes intangible assets of £13.9m, or 16p a share | ||||
