A 10 per cent hike in the interim dividend was not enough for the market to cash out on an otherwise impressive set of results for James Fisher Group (FSJ). Given the decline in activity levels in the offshore oil division, the marine service operator made good ground to build the pipeline in its specialist technical, marine support and tank ships segments and keep underlying operating flat at £19.9m.
There was little in these results that investors were not already aware of, though they may have been hoping for this year's impressive run of new contract wins to continue. In any case, chief executive Nick Henry says the Indian submarine, Winfrith decommissioning and the Galloper wind farm work secured in 2016 "are progressing quite nicely". The latter contract could also bode well for the largely dollar-earning marine support division, given Mr Henry believes the company has sight of a pipeline of wind farm work worth 10 times the value of Galloper.
That should help to replace business in the offshore oil segment, which saw gross margins hold firm, but accounted for the drop in half-year revenue at the group level. Analysts at Investec are guiding for full-year pre-tax profits of £45.8m and EPS of 76.7p, up from £41.2m and 68.5 in 2015.
JAMES FISHER (FSJ) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 1,556p | MARKET VALUE: | £781m | |
| TOUCH: | 1,547-1,556p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,599p | LOW: 895p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.6% | PE RATIO: | 19 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 454p* | NET DEBT: | 46% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 213 | 17.9 | 30.2 | 7.80 |
| 2016 | 209 | 17.4 | 29.6 | 8.55 |
| % change | -2 | -3 | -2 | +10 |
Ex-div: 6 Oct Payment: 4 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £164m, or 326p a share. | ||||
