The rewards of Coats Group’s (COA) ‘Connecting for Growth’ efficiency programme continue to rise, delivering $15m (£11.3m) in net savings over the full-year, well ahead of an initial $5m target that was raised to $10m by management in July 2018.
The industrial thread manufacturer has lifted its target again and aims for $23m in savings when the programme concludes in 2020, after reinvestments, according to chief executive Rajiv Sharma. The costs of the programme aren’t insignificant, however. It effectively amounted to a redundancy programme in 2018, with severance costs of $20.5m for laid-off staff making up the bulk of its total $22.8m expenditure, which has been treated as exceptional.
Analysts at Peel Hunt forecast 2019 full-year pre-tax profits and earnings per share of $190m and 8¢ respectively, against prior year figures of $181m and 7.7¢.
COATS GROUP (COA) | ||||
ORD PRICE: | 83.8p | MARKET VALUE: | £ 1.2bn | |
TOUCH: | 83.8-84p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 92p | LOW: 69p |
DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 29 | |
NET ASSET VALUE: | 190¢* | NET DEBT: | 75% |
Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($bn) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (¢) |
2014 | 1.56 | 97 | 3.00 | nil |
2015 | 1.47 | 80 | 1.80 | nil |
2016 | 1.46 | 123 | 4.60 | 1.25 |
2017** | 1.36 | 130 | 5.10 | 1.44 |
2018 | 1.41 | 123 | 3.85 | 1.66 |
% change | +4 | -5 | -25 | +15 |
Ex-div: | 02 May | |||
Payment: | 28 May | |||
£1=$1.32 *Includes intangible assets of $284m or 20¢ per share **Turnover and EPS restated to include continuing results following NA Crafts disposal and to reflect the adoption of IFRS15 |