Pinewood (PWS) worked behind the scenes on Spectre, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and other blockbuster films in the reported period, driving adjusted after-tax profits up 52 per cent to £10.1m. But management offered no updates on the ongoing strategic review, which could herald the sale of the studio and production services group.
Underlying sales climbed 18 per cent in media services. The main driver was a 21 per cent rise in film revenues, reflecting stage occupancy of 90 per cent and strong demand for lighting and other services. The segment also benefited from 98 per cent occupancy in the media hub - where 247 independent media businesses lease out space - as well as strong demand for the storage of film data. However, capacity constraints meant television revenues slumped by a tenth.
The media investment division swung to an after-tax profit of £0.4m, reflecting UK distribution work and film tax relief for Pinewood's production companies. And the first phase of the £200m expansion programme is complete, adding over 320,000 square feet of stages, workshops and office buildings.
Broker N+1 Singer expects pre-tax profits of £12.1m this year, giving EPS of 20.2p (from £10.4m and 17.7p in FY2016).
| PINEWOOD (PWS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 555p | MARKET VALUE: | £318m | |
| TOUCH: | 546-570p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 580p | LOW: 415p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.7% | PE RATIO: | 39 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 220p | NET DEBT: | 59%* | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 63.0 | -1.9 | -6.3 | nil |
| 2013 | 55.0 | 1.3 | 3.6 | 2.0 |
| 2014 | 64.1 | 3.6 | 10.8 | 2.5 |
| 2015 | 75.0 | 5.0 | 16.4 | 3.5 |
| 2016 | 83.2 | 7.8 | 14.2 | 4.0 |
| % change | +11 | +58 | -13 | +14 |
Ex-div: 1 Sep Payment: 3 Oct *Excludes restricted cash of £2m | ||||
