30th Jul 2019 09:14
(Alliance News) - Temporary power unit renter Aggreko PLC held its interim dividend Tuesday after profit rose marginally, even as revenue declined, in a "good" start to 2019.
For the six months ended June, pretax profit widened 1.7% to GBP60 million from GBP59 million the year prior. This was despite revenue falling 10% to GBP768 million from GBP857 million the year before.
Revenue performance was hurt by a 9% reported fall from its Power Solutions Industrial unit following the boost this business received from the Winter Olympics a year before. Excluding the Winter Olympics, revenue grew 4% from this unit.
Profitability was maintained, after gross profit remained flat on the year prior, due to an equally lower cost of sales.
"We have had a good start to the year and are on track to deliver full-year earnings in line with market expectations," Aggreko Chief Executive Officer Chris Weston said.
Aggreko proposed a 9.38 pence interim dividend per share, unchanged on the year prior.
"Focus on delivery in our key sectors, combined with operational and cost efficiencies and the benefit from our investments in systems, has delivered improved profitability," Weston added. "We continue to innovate to meet our customers' evolving needs through the energy transition, and during the period we launched the Y.Cube, our new modular and mobile energy storage system."
"Progress on receivables has also been encouraging, particularly in Africa, and this all underpins our confidence in achieving our mid-teens ROCE target in 2020", Weston continued.
During the first six months, return on capital employed narrowed to 10.2% from 10.5% the year prior on a reported basis. On an underlying basis, however, ROCE improved by 0.6 of a percentage point.
Shares in Aggreko were 1.0% higher at 785.00 pence in London on Tuesday.
Related Shares:
AGK.L