James Cropper's (CRPR) shares fell over 6 per cent in morning trading on news that pulp prices have exceeded market expectations for the second consecutive year, which increased cost pressures on the company’s paper business in excess of £6.5m over two years.
“It has been impossible to pass all of this on,” chairman Mark Cropper says, leading to a £2m operating loss for the paper business over the full year. The performance of Colourform, James Cropper’s 3D printing outfit, also fed into a difficult period. 3D printing “did not grow as quickly as hoped”, the company says, owing to the timing of big contracts, while increased investment widened the division’s operating loss, as it increased 3D printing capacity by 50 per cent. It also announced the construction of a new machine house for technical fibre products, the only division that successfully grew operating profits, which it says will be the most significant addition to its operations in 25 years.
House broker Shore Capital forecasts March 2020 adjusted pre-tax profits of £5.5m and EPS of 47.4p, rising to £7m and 60.2p in FY2021.
| JAMES CROPPER (CRPR) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 900p | MARKET VALUE: | £86m | |
| TOUCH: | 850-950p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 1,760p | LOW: 900p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 37 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 222p | NET DEBT: | 40% | |
| Year to 30 Mar | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2015 | 83.1 | 2.58 | 20.8 | 8.5 |
| 2016 | 87.9 | 3.87 | 32.6 | 9.3 |
| 2017 | 92.4 | 5.54 | 49.4 | 11.8 |
| 2018 | 96.3 | 4.54 | 43.3 | 13.5 |
| 2019 | 101 | 2.58 | 24.3 | 13.5 |
| % change | +5 | -43 | -44 | - |
| Ex-div: | 4 Jul | |||
| Payment: | 9 Aug |
