Playing host to Spectre, Star Wars: The Force Awakens and other blockbusters in the six months to September 2015 helped Pinewood (PWS) post a 13 per cent increase in post-tax profits to £4.3m. Moreover, the studio and production services group remained on track to complete the first act of its expansion programme by June 2016. This promises to consign its capacity issues to history.
Insatiable demand from Disney, Universal and other film studios for stages and services such as sound editing and digital storage drove adjusted operating profits up 36 per cent to £8.3m in the key media services business. Moreover, Pinewood's £37m buyout of joint-venture partner Shepperton Studios last year fuelled strong sales growth in the media hub. Recent alliances with lighting and building materials suppliers should support further gains here - even if the Shepperton deal, together with other expansion costs, increased net debt by three-quarters to £58m.
Television revenues disappointed, as the fledgling Wales studio failed to attract high-end dramas. Sales also more than halved to £6m in Pinewood's media investment arm, which sources and advises on investment opportunities for media funds backed by the Manx and Welsh governments. Management expects a flurry of second-half projects to underpin a recovery in this last division.
Broker N+1 Singer upped its forecasts and now expects EPS of 14.4p for the year to March 2016 (FY2015: 13.5p).
| PINEWOOD (PWS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 428p | MARKET VALUE: | £246m | |
| TOUCH: | 425-430p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 493p | LOW: 410p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.8% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 214p | NET DEBT: | 47%† | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 38.5 | 1.8 | 7.7 | 0.7 |
| 2015 | 38.2 | 4.4 | 7.6 | 0.8 |
| % change | -1 | +153 | -1 | +14 |
Ex-div: 7 Jan Payment: 8 Feb †Excludes restricted cash of £1.8m | ||||
