5th Mar 2020 09:40
(Alliance News) - Spirent Communications PLC on Thursday reported a double digit increase in annual profit and revenue, driven by higher product demand and a better win rate with US defence contractors, leading to a payout raise.
For 2019, Spirent - which offers testing and analytics for networks and devices - posted a pretax profit of USD89.6 million, up 46% from USD61.2 million the year before.
This was on revenue that grew by 13% to USD503.6 million from USD476.9 million. Spirent said its growth resulted from continued momentum in the group's high-speed ethernet sales particularly in China, and a higher win rate for Global Navigation Satellite System defence projects in the US.
Spirent's order intake - which reflects commitments from customers to purchase goods and services - increased by 13% to USD532.0 million from USD470.0 million the prior year.
The group declared a final dividend of 3.45 cents per share, bringing the total payout to 5.39 cents, up 20% from 4.49 cents the year before.
Looking ahead, Spirent said it is confident of achieving steady growth in 2020. Considering the coronavirus situation, it already has processes in place to protect staff, including working from home and restricted travel arrangements.
In addition, the group has supplies for its products and solutions dual-sourced, to mitigate any potential risk in the supply chain process.
"As I complete my first year with Spirent, I'm delighted with the progress we have made and remain optimistic about our ability to seize opportunities and ensure we are well positioned for continued sustainable, profitable growth. We have a world class customer base that trusts us and respects our expertise. We have market-leading technology in which we continue to invest and innovate and our strong financial platform affords us great flexibility to evolve and grow our business," said Chief Executive Officer Eric Updyke.
Shares in Spirent Communications were up 5.2% at 223.50 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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