Engineering group Amec delivered another record operating performance, and although chief executive Samir Brikho believes the trading environment will remain challenging, he is confident that the group will achieve its target 8.5 per cent earnings margin in 2010 (from 8.2 per cent in 2009).
Operating cash flow increased 129 per cent to £257m, which helped Amec retain a strong cash position even after investing £113m in five acquisitions.
Mr Brikho says the group is well positioned to win contracts at the early stages of the project cycle. Capital expenditure by customers is increasing and Amec expects the level of project awards to improve. The order book was 3 per cent lower at £3.2bn, but Mr Brikho is hopeful that signs of a pick-up in the first quarter will support sizeable new contract wins that will contribute later this year. His optimistic outlook was enshrined last December in a programme he calls Vision 2015, which has set the goal of more than doubling earnings per share to 100p-plus in 2015.
Prior to these results, broker Evolution Securities was forecasting 2010 pre-tax profits of £249m and EPS of 54p.
| AMEC (AMEC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 770p | MARKET VALUE: | £2.56bn | |
| TOUCH: | 769-770p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 880p | LOW: 484p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 16 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 308p* | NET CASH: | £743m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover (£bn) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 2.84 | -18 | -5.6 | 11.5 |
| 2006 | 2.12 | -27 | -13.3 | 12.2 |
| 2007 | 2.36 | 152 | 36.9 | 13.4 |
| 2008 | 2.61 | 307 | 64.5 | 15.4 |
| 2009 | 2.54 | 204 | 47.6 | 17.7 |
| % change | - | - | - | +15 |
Ex-div: 26 May Payment: 1 Jul *Includes intangible assets of £454m, or 137p a share | ||||
