Following the disposal of its aerospace business for £65m at the end of May, the company has net cash on its balance sheet of £51m, a sum worth 182p a share, of which the board intends to return £28m to shareholders, equivalent to 100p a share, through a tender offer scheduled to complete in November. Details of the capital return will be announced shortly. It made sense to sell the aerospace unit as Avingtrans had achieved all its ambitions in building up the business to a point where it could book a hefty £27.5m profit on disposal, or more than double the unit’s net assets. Shareholders will also receive a higher final dividend of 2.1p a share payable in early December.
Sellafield contract a major opportunity