A string of business wins and new products helped to lift first-half operating profit by 42.4 per cent to £2.78m at Carclo (CAR). The group specialises in supplying fine tolerance, injection moulded plastic components that are used in medical, optical and electronics products, as well as LED-based systems for the automotive and aerospace industries.
Turnover in the technical plastics division grew 15.8 per cent to £28m, reflecting solid growth in the US and India, although this was offset to some extent by reduced schedules from its biggest customer in China. Even so, operating profit here grew from £1.35m to £1.73m and new business awards are expected to underpin a stronger second-half performance.
Further growth is also expected from the LED Technologies division, formed from the amalgamation of LED Optics and the supercar lighting business. Operating profit here was flat at £0.9m, but the division's performance is significantly skewed towards the second half. Moreover, the Conductive Inkjet Technology (CIT) division started volume sales of coated film to partner Atmel, totalling £1.4m - although full-year sales are expected to be at the lower end of the previously announced £4-£7m range.
Broker N+1 Singer expects full-year adjusted pre-tax profit of £6.6m, giving EPS of 7.5p (from £3.9m and 4.5p in 2013).
| CARCLO (CAR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 341p | MARKET VALUE: | £225m | |
| TOUCH: | 337-342p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 510p | LOW: 319p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.8% | PE RATIO: | 67 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 101p* | NET DEBT: | 21% | |
| Half-year to 30 Sep | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 40.0 | 1.07 | 1.3 | 0.80 |
| 2013 | 45.4 | 1.76 | 2.0 | 0.85 |
| % change | +14 | +64 | +54 | +6 |
Ex-div: 26 Feb Payment: 8 Apr *Includes intangible assets of £46m, or 70p a share | ||||
