Join our community of smart investors

Plaudits for Laird

RESULTS: Laird’s big investment in R&D is beginning to pay off
March 3, 2014

Although the numbers were well flagged in a January update, we hear Laird’s (LRD) full-year presentation almost teased applause from City analysts. True or not, it was free of surprises and spelled out exciting growth prospects. Like last year, the electronic components company will have a better second half in 2014 - but this time round there will also be decent growth in the first half.

IC TIP: Buy at 313p

Driven by smartphone and gaming work, Laird made twice as much in the second half of 2013 as in the first. Underlying pre-tax profit, down 37 per cent at the half-way point, finished down just 1 per cent at £60.1m. That was far better than expected, and came despite a 28 per cent increase in research and development spend.

Samsung will put lots more business Laird’s way later this year, and there’ll be more product launches from Apple, too. Both these big clients should drive profits at the higher-margin performance-materials division. A pair of big automotive deals, meanwhile, could turn round fortunes at the smaller wireless-systems division. Broker Espirito Santo expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £65.5m in 2014, giving adjusted EPS of 19.9p (from 18.5p in 2013), rising to 23.5p the following year.

LAIRD (LRD)

ORD PRICE:313pMARKET VALUE:£ 838m
TOUCH:313-316p12-MONTH HIGH:335pLOW:  170p
DIVIDEND YIELD:3.8%PE RATIO:27
NET ASSET VALUE 163p*NET DEBT:25%

Year to 31 DecTurnover (£m)Pre-tax profit (£m)Earnings per share (p)Dividend per share (p)
20095294.6-0.86
2010414-8.6-6.06.3
201149129.3-44.88
201252045.112.710
201353743.211.512
% change+3-4-9+20

Ex-div: 04 Jun

Payment: 04 Jul

*Includes intangible assets of £514m, or 192p per share