Smiles all round at FW Thorpe (TFW) after the family-controlled lighting manufacturer bumped up the annual dividend, aided by the first full-year contribution from the Netherlands-based Lightronics business acquired last year. The subsidiary booked operating profits of £2.1m against £481,000 for the 2015 year-end. This accounted for the lion’s share of the improvement at the group level.
Aside from the contribution of Lightronics, management also pointed to the sterling performance of TRT Lighting, its road tunnel and street lighting business, though that has been constrained by a lack of industrial floor space. The hunt is on for any suitable alternatives in the Redditich area.
Figures for the largest part of the group, Thorlux Lighting, show a decent performance with an increase in operating profit on flat revenues. It's worth noting that LED continues to increase as a proportion of group sales. The factory re-layout has moved ahead successfully through the year including several improvements in the manufacturing process, including the transformation of an old loading deck into 330 square metres of office space at a cost of some £0.4m
Management is continuing to look at ways to rationalise marginal parts of the business and drive margins. The group sold Sugg Lighting during the 2014/15 financial year, and efforts are underway to find the best way of optimising shareholder value from the Compact Lighting business unit.
| FW THORPE (TFW) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 250p | MARKET VALUE: | £289m | |
| TOUCH: | 240p-257p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 257p | LOW: 193p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.6%† | PE RATIO: | 22 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 78p* | NET CASH: | £33.2m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 55.6 | 12.7 | 8.5 | 1.94 |
| 2013 | 55.3 | 11.5 | 8.1 | 3.00 |
| 2014 | 61.4 | 12.6 | 8.7 | 3.25 |
| 2015 | 73.5 | 14.4 | 10.1 | 3.65 |
| 2016 | 88.9 | 16.3 | 11.2 | 4.05 |
| % change | +21 | +13 | +11 | +11 |
Ex-div: 27 Oct Payment: 24 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £15.1m, or 13p a share. †Does not include 2p special dividend paid in April 2016 | ||||
