8th Mar 2016 08:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - Industrial maintenance and repair products distributor Brammer PLC made two appointments to its board on Tuesday as it said its pretax profit shrank in 2015 after a challenging year in its key markets.
Brammer has appointed Duncan Magrath as an executive director with immediate effect and said he would become finance director on March 31, replacing Paul Thwaite.
Magrath joined the board as a non-executive in 2012 and is the former chief financial officer of Balfour Beatty PLC, the construction and infrastructure group.
Brammer also made Steve Ashmore an executive director, effective from April 1, where he will oversee its operations in the UK, Ireland and Iceland. Ashmore is the managing director of Wolseley UK, the UK operating unit of blue-chip building materials company Wolseley PLC.
The appointments were announced as Brammer's pretax profit for the year to the end of December fell to GBP13.5 million from GBP17.7 million a year earlier, down 24%, as sales fell 0.9% to GBP717.3 million from GBP723.6 million.
Margins dipped in the year, with its gross margin at 30.9% from 31.7% in 2014, due to a restructuring programme put in place to improve its operational efficiencies, some benefits of which were seen in the second half, the company said.
Brammer said it continued to perform well in continental Europe in the year, but this was not enough to offset a disappointing period in the UK and Nordic regions. 2016 has started similarly, Brammer Chief Executive Ian Fraser said, and he expects to see a turnaround emerge this year.
The group will pay a flat final dividend of 7.1 pence per share, leaving its total payout flat at 10.7p.
Shares in Brammer were down 16% to 181.50 pence early Tuesday, the worst performer in the FTSE All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
BRAM.L