FW Thorpe (TFW) performed well in the year to June 2018, especially considering its core markets have dimmed somewhat. The group is largely reliant on the UK for sales, but as business confidence has faltered since the Brexit referendum, management has responded by diversifying the business geographically: the UK accounted for 64 per cent of revenues in the year, down from 68 per cent in FY2017.
It has also been rejigging the product range towards the more technologically advanced end of the market. So many of the group’s design innovations have started to move beyond lighting into areas such as facilities management, an example being the group’s SmartScan platform. This product provides users with data on occupancy levels and the movement of people within a given space, while emergency lights can produce their own test certificates and provide data on ambient humidity, temperature and CO2 levels. Demand for these new technologies “rocketed” in the year, according to management.
| FW THORPE (TFW) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 300p | MARKET VALUE: | £348m | |
| TOUCH: | 300-308p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 390p | LOW: 290p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.8% | PE RATIO: | 22 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 97p* | NET CASH: | £43.9m** | |
| Year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2014 | 61.4 | 12.6 | 8.7 | 3.25 |
| 2015 | 73.5 | 14.4 | 10.1 | 3.65 |
| 2016 | 88.9 | 16.3 | 11.2 | 4.05 |
| 2017 | 105 | 18.4 | 12.5 | 4.90 |
| 2018 | 110 | 19.6 | 13.9 | 5.40 |
| % change | +4 | +7 | +11 | +10 |
| Ex-div: | 1 Nov | |||
| Payment: | 29 Nov | |||
| *Includes intangible assets of £21.6m, or 19p a share | ||||
| **Includes £15.3m of short term financial assets | ||||
