The most eye-catching news from Forth Ports this year was March's takeover approach by a consortium of shareholders. That was aborted at the end of May, sending the shares in the port operator back to pre-bid levels and, apart from £1.1m of related one-off costs, it left no trace on the half-year results.
The figures offered modest grounds for optimism, though. The core ports business has turned the corner at Tilbury, where volumes grew 8 per cent. But some Scottish operations - notably container volumes at Grangemouth - are still contracting. Chief executive Charles Hammond says Scotland entered the recession later and is expected to emerge later, too. Overall port revenues were marginally lower at £76.7m. But a more lucrative business mix and last year's cost reductions meant that underlying operating profits from the ports grew 6 per cent to £19.7m - generating an impressive 26 per cent margin.
Earnings rose sharper still at the group level because, in December, Forth Ports bought out its joint-venture partner - Bank of Scotland - in the Ocean Terminal shopping centre project at Leith, Edinburgh. This pushed reported property revenues up from £0.8m to £4.3m.
Investec Securities expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profits of £34.5m and EPS of 55.4p (£33.2m and 55.7p in 2009).
FORTH PORTS (FPT) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
ORD PRICE: | 1,291p | MARKET VALUE: | £591m | |
TOUCH: | 1,291-1,300p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,425p | LOW: 1,020p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 500p | NET DEBT: | 107% |
Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 86.6 | 12.4 | 18.7 | 9.5 |
2010 | 89.6 | 16.0 | 24.5 | 10.0 |
% change | +3 | +29 | +31 | +5 |
Ex-div: 13 Oct Payment: 5 Nov |