12th May 2020 11:55
(Alliance News) - Andrews Sykes Group PLC on Tuesday kept its dividend in line with 2019, despite an overall weaker year compared to the last as a milder winter period led to lower demand for heating and boiler hire products.
For 2019, the heating and cooling rental company reported a pretax profit of GBP18.6 million, down 11% from GBP21.0 million the year before, on revenue that declined by 1.8% to GBP77.2 million from GBP78.6 million.
The majority of the decline came from the first half of 2019, caused by diverse weather, with a much milder winter period for 2019 than 2018, leading to less opportunities for the group's heating and boiler products.
In addition, a drier period compared to the year before impacted the group's pump hire business.
There was a slower performance in the UK and Northern Europe, but the hire and sales business in the Middle East delivered a very good trading result, driven by several large projects in the region including the 2020 Expo due to be held in Dubai.
Andrews Sykes declared a final dividend of 10.50 pence per share, leading to a total payout of 23.80p, in line with the year before.
Looking ahead, the group's trading performance in the first quarter of 2020 started positively, particularly in the UK where the pump hire business benefited from the abnormally wet weather, despite the month of March being affected by the pandemic.
"Andrews Sykes Group remains resilient as sectors in which we trade have shown continuous demand whilst facing an unprecedented challenge in the form of the coronavirus pandemic. We are thankful and proud of our team members who continue to respond as essential service providers," said Chair Jacques Murray.
Shares in Andrews Skyes Group were down 4.2% at 522.00 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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