Acal's (ACL) transition from general electrics supplier into designer and manufacturer of higher-value electronics continues to pay off. Strip out restructuring, integration and acquisition costs and operating profit soared 89 per cent to £13.4m, as electromagnetic product maker Noratel and fibre optic cabling manufacturer Foss both hit the ground running.
Together, these two acquisitions contributed about £59m of sales and £6m of underlying operating profit to Acal's higher-margin Design & Manufacturing division. This segment, which sells higher-value products and requires fewer staff than the group's traditional distribution unit, accounted for 37 per cent of group revenue - up from 18 per cent in the previous financial year. The acquisition of Noratel also took the proportion of group revenue generated beyond Europe from 5 per cent in full-year 2014 to 12 per cent.
Even without the acquisitions, Acal grew faster than the broader economy. Organic constant-currency sales rose 3 per cent, outstripping average weighted GDP growth in the eurozone and the UK of 1.1 per cent. One reason was increased cross-selling between group companies - a key management focus - which generated £5.5m of new business.
Broker finnCap expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £14.9m in the current financial year, giving EPS of 16.6p, rising to 19.1p in the year to March 2017.
| ACAL (ACL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 302p | MARKET VALUE: | £190m | |
| TOUCH: | 299-302p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 315p | LOW: 180p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.5% | PE RATIO: | 60 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 147p* | NET DEBT: | 20% | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 265 | 1.9 | 6.0 | 7.5 |
| 2012 | 258 | 2.7 | 7.4 | 8.0 |
| 2013 | 177 | 0.7 | 7.4 | 8.5 |
| 2014 | 212 | 4.2 | 3.0** | 6.8** |
| 2015 | 271 | 4.3 | 5.0 | 7.6 |
| % change | +28 | +2 | +67 | +12 |
Ex-div: 11 Jun Payment: 31 Jul *Includes intangible assets of £69.9m, or 111p a share **Restated to reflect £55m rights issue | ||||
