Last year BBA Aviation (BBA) snapped up a company called Landmark Aviation: a fitting name, given management's bullish claims that the acquisition will "fundamentally transform" the business. It certainly has had a 'landmark' impact on this year's earnings per share, given the dilutive impact of the $1.1bn rights issue launched in October 2015 to fund the acquisition. So what looks like a rotten set of figures is actually, in management's words, "satisfactory".
Ignoring the $1.1bn rights issue, earnings per share would have risen 1 per cent to 30.9¢, while the dividend per share would have increased by 5 per cent to 17¢. BBA's flight support division, which operates under the Signature brand, generates 73 per cent of group profits and saw underlying profits rise by a fifth to $158.5m, as good operational performance offset lower revenues. The addition of Landmark will only augment the division's importance.