A "lull in order intake" during the spring of 2012, together with business set-up costs and two misfiring subsidiaries, combined to hold back full-year earnings for lighting specialist FW Thorpe (TFW).
The good news is that shareholders benefited from a substantial dividend hike at the full-year mark, despite the fact that the group had to divert another £500,000 to support its fledgling road and tunnel lighting subsidiary, TRT Lighting. FW Thorpe entered its 2012-13 accounting year with a "lower than normal" order backlog, which had an adverse effect on sales at its key Thorlux LED division, which accounts for 82 per cent of group revenues. The continued roll-out of LED lighting technologies across FW Thorpe's domestic and overseas markets - exports account for 14 per cent of sales - should be the main driver of growth.
Although sales volumes at Thorlux recovered in the second half, it still recorded a 5 per cent dip in operating profits to £10.2m. The initial sales shortfall at Thorlux was compounded by ongoing trading losses at both Compact Lighting and Sugg Lighting, although key personnel changes have resulted in both subsidiaries trading profitably post year-end. Overall, FW Thorpe turned in a 9 per cent fall in yearly operating profits to £10.8m.
| FW THORPE (TFW) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 118p | MARKET VALUE: | £138m | |
| TOUCH: | 115-122p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 150p | LOW: 91p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3% | PE RATIO: | 14 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 62p | NET CASH: | £34m | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 53.4 | 11.6 | 7.14 | 1.62 |
| 2010 | 47.0 | 10.7 | 6.61 | 1.67 |
| 2011 | 52.8 | 11.6 | 7.18 | 1.76 |
| 2012 | 55.6 | 12.7 | 8.48 | 1.94 |
| 2013 | 55.3 | 11.6 | 8.16 | 3.00 |
| % change | -0.4 | -9 | -4 | +55 |
Ex-div: 23 Oct Payment: 21 Nov NB: Historic EPS & DPS figures adjusted to reflect 19 Aug 2013 10-for-one share sub-division | ||||
