19th May 2016 07:34
LONDON (Alliance News) - Electrocomponents PLC on Thursday said its pretax profit dropped in the financial year to the end of March due to exceptional charges booked by the electronics distributor, though revenue edged higher and the company held its dividend payout flat.
FTSE 250-listed Electrocomponents said pretax profit for the year to March 31 was GBP34.9 million, down 64% from the GBP96.1 million made a year earlier, primarily as a result of the company booking GBP41.9 million in one-off restructuring charges. Headline pretax profit, which strips out exceptionals, slipped to GBP76.8 million from GBP80.1 million.
Revenue for the year grew to GBP1.29 billion from GBP1.27 billion, driven by strong growth in Europe which offset weaker trading in North America and Asia Pacific, but the group's headline operating margin declined to 6.4% from 6.7%, hitting its bottom line.
Electrocomponents said its gross margin has stabilised in the second half thanks to pricing and discounting discipline undertaken.
The company will pay a flat total dividend of 11.75 pence per share for the year.
Chief Executive Lindsley Ruth said Electrocomponents has made progress but its results are still below what the company wants to deliver. Ruth said Electrocomponents expects to deliver this improvement in the current financial year as it benefits from the restructuring activities undertaken in the 2016 financial year.
Electrocomponents shares were up 1.0% to 262.40 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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