17th Feb 2015 07:43
LONDON (Alliance News) - Brammer PLC on Tuesday reported a fall in pretax profit for 2014 despite a rise in revenue, pulled back by a rise in costs, but it hiked its dividend as its underlying performance held up well.
Brammer, an industrial maintenance, repair and overhaul products company, said its pretax profit for the year to December 31 was down to GBP17.7 million from GBP32.9 million the year before. Pretax profit was dragged lower by a rise in distribution costs, up to GBP200.8 million from GBP165.5 million a year earlier, and by a GBP12.6 million restructuring charge related to the closure of the Buck & Hickman National Distribution Centre in Coventry and the merging of its supply chain operations across the UK.
Revenue for the year was up to GBP723.6 million from GBP651.9 million, despite being held back by currency translation from its European operations, but boosted by a solid performance in Brammer's Scandinavian business.
The group declared a final dividend of 7.1 pence per share, up 4.4%, resulting in a total dividend for the year of GBP10.7 pence per share, up 4.9% year-on-year.
Brammer said the dividend was lifted on the back of the group's stronger underlying results, stripping out exceptional items, with its underlying pretax profit falling by only GBP0.3 million to GBP35.1 million.
"In 2014 we have continued to demonstrate our resilience whilst expanding our European footprint into Scandinavia. We have invested heavily in growth drivers to counter difficult market conditions," said Chief Executive Ian Fraser.
"We expect that our investment in growth drivers will enable us to continue to gain market share and provide good revenue and profit growth in the years to come," Fraser added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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