The strength of sterling caused a bit of a headache for Photo-Me International (PHTM) during the last financial year. Not to sniff at a 16 per cent improvement in underlying pre-tax profits, but this increase would have been 25 per cent if the currency in which the company reports hadn't been so strong against the euro and yen slotted into its overseas photobooths. Finance director Françoise Coutaz-Replan insists the problem is "purely translational" and the "natural hedge" between revenues and costs will help protect profits this year.
In fact, the company is so pleased with the prior year's performance it has upped the dividend by 30 per cent. It has also committed to a 10 per cent increase in the dividend every year for the next three years, and promised to return excess cash above £50m to shareholders by way of a special dividend at the end of the 2015/16 financial year. So it's a good job the company's cash generation is on the rise, growing 12.3 per cent last year to £40.1m.
Future demand is expected in Japan with the introduction of mandatory ID cards from January 2016, and the company has decent European orders for its self-service laundrettes. Analysts at finnCap expect pre-tax profits of £36.6m for the current financial year, giving EPS of 7p, compared with £35m and 6.7p in the year to April 2015.
| PHOTO-ME INTERNATIONAL (PHTM) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 139p | MARKET VALUE: | £517m | |
| TOUCH: | 138-139p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 155p | LOW: 110p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.5% | PE RATIO: | 18 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 28p | NET CASH: | £59m | |
| Year to 30 April | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 220 | 18.0 | 3.8 | 2.0 |
| 2012 | 208 | 20.1 | 4.0 | 2.5 |
| 2013 | 196 | 24.3 | 4.8 | 3.0 |
| 2014 | 187 | 30.1 | 5.8 | 3.8 |
| 2015 | 177 | 38.5 | 7.5 | 4.9 |
| % change | -5 | +28 | +30 | +30 |
Ex-div: 8 Oct Payment: 12 Nov | ||||
