Shares in Hyder Consulting jumped 4 per cent after the engineering consultant's full-year pre-tax profits came in 4 per cent ahead of consensus and the company announced a 16 per cent rise in the order book to £363m to guarantee over 60 per cent of forecast revenues. And with net cash up a fifth to £15.6m, shareholders have been rewarded with a 16 per cent hike in the dividend to 9p.
The key driver was a 34 per cent increase in orders from the Middle East as the Gulf state of Qatar spends big on infrastructure to host the 2022 Football World Cup. Australia was also a lucrative market for contract wins as spending on major highway and rail contracts pushed the order book in the Asia-Pacific region 20 per cent higher.
Trading was solid enough even though European operations (37 per cent of revenue) were impacted by weakness in the UK, which meant operating profits declined 17 per cent to £5.5m on turnover down 9 per cent. State elections and flooding in Australia meant revenue slipped in the Asia-Pacific region (accounting for two-thirds of group profits), but this was more than offset by rising profitability on projects in Hong Kong and across the rest of Asia.
Broker Espirito Santo upgraded adjusted pre-tax profit estimates from £21.8m to £22.5m, giving EPS of 43.6p (from £21.6m and 44.3p in 2012).
HYDER CONSULTING ( HYC) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 390p | MARKET VALUE: | £151m | |
| TOUCH: | 375- 392p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 448p | LOW: 305p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 2.3% | PE RATIO: | 11 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 226p* | NET CASH: | £15.6m | |
| Year to 31 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 234 | 12.7 | 30.9 | 3.00 |
| 2009 | 319 | 3.2 | 9.1 | 4.50 |
| 2010 | 309 | 13.5 | 29.5 | 6.00 |
| 2011 | 290 | 18.2 | 39.3 | 7.75 |
| 2012 | 277 | 17.7 | 36.5 | 9.00 |
| % change | -4 | -3 | -7 | +16 |
Ex-div: 11 Jul Payment: 10 Aug *Includes intangible assets of £43m, or 112p a share | ||||
