Growing industry recognition of oil & gas services engineer Plexus Holdings' patented POS-GRIP wellhead equipment explains this decent set of figures.
Indeed, cash profit grew 41 per cent to £4.5m, while the gross margin rose to 60.1 per cent from last year's 58.5 per cent. Capital investment did fall 28 per cent to £2.34m, but that's expected to rise significantly in the current year as the POS-GRIP rental inventory expands. What's more, and despite the North Sea supplementary tax hike, Plexus' UK-derived revenues soared to £7.21m from £1.34m - more than offsetting slippage in Africa as contracts there moved towards completion. Plexus expanded its forward order book, too, after securing contract wins - a trend that has continued since the period ended.
Moreover, roughly two-thirds of total revenue was generated from Plexus' proprietary high-pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) exploration equipment; up 13 per cent year-on-year. The take-up of the HP/HT technologies should accelerate as sub-sea activities come to comprise a greater proportion of Plexus' business mix.
Cenkos anticipates pre-tax profit of £2.8m for 2012, giving EPS of 2.5p (2011: £1.6m/1.6p).
| PLEXUS HOLDINGS (POS) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 70p | MARKET VALUE: | £56m | |
| TOUCH: | 68-72p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 81p | LOW: 49p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.1% | PE RATIO: | 45 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 25p* | NET DEBT: | 3% | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 10.3 | 1.53 | 1.35 | nil |
| 2008 | 13.3 | 1.91 | 1.61 | nil |
| 2009 | 15.1 | 1.80 | 1.27 | 0.69 |
| 2010 | 13.1 | 0.65 | 0.88 | 0.72 |
| 2011 | 15.4 | 1.57 | 1.55 | 0.78 |
| % change | +18 | +142 | +76 | +8 |
Ex-div: 26 Oct Payment: 16 Dec *includes intangible assets of £7.89m, or 10p a share | ||||
