Henry Boot (BHY) delivered a strong performance last year thanks to solid gains in the core land-development business. Hallam Land accelerated the number of land sales to generate operating profits of £11.9m - up from £2.3m. To meet the increase in demand, the group invested £9.1m in new land, lifting the acreage owned, held under option or through planning promotion agreements up from 9,011 acres to 9,723. Negotiations on further sites are expected to push this figure past 10,000 this year.
Construction work provided a useful secondary source of income, with increased activity in the group’s plant-hire business helping lift operating profits by 4 per cent to £8.2m. There are indications of growing demand both for plant hire and construction work as the economy picks up.
On the property-investment side, most of the previous year’s vacant space was filled, and rental income was higher, but operating profits fell from £7.4m to £3.1m. This reflected fewer asset sales and a revaluation loss on a mixed-use property in Nottingham after one of the tenants went bust.
Analysts at WH Ireland have upgraded their forecasts for the coming year and now expect adjusted pre-tax profits of £20m and EPS of 10.7p.
| HENRY BOOT (BHY) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 212p | MARKET VALUE: | £278m | |
| TOUCH: | 210-213p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 240p | LOW: 161p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.4% | PE RATIO: | 25 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 147p | NET DEBT: | 19% | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 117 | -11.9 | -5.7 | 2.5 |
| 2010 | 132 | 18.9 | 9.1 | 3.5 |
| 2011 | 115 | 16.1 | 6.9 | 4.25 |
| 2012 | 103 | 13.4 | 7.0 | 4.7 |
| 2013 | 154 | 18.4 | 8.6 | 5.1 |
| % change | +50 | +37 | +23 | +9 |
Ex-div:30 Apr Payment:30 May | ||||
