2nd Jul 2024 09:38
(Alliance News) - Supreme PLC on Tuesday said it increased its earnings significantly in financial 2024, and that it was confident for this year despite a proposed UK vaping ban.
The Manchester, England-based consumer products manufacturer and supplier said that for the year that ended on March 31, pretax profit more than doubled to GBP30.1 million from GBP14.4 million the year before. Earnings per share surged 85% to 19.1 pence from 10.3p.
Revenue, Supreme said, jumped 42% to GBP221.2 million from GBP155.6 million. Revenue for its Branded Distribution division soared to GBP63.5 million from GBP7.8 million, due to its selection in June 2023 as a master UK distributor for the ElfBar and Lost Mary vape brands.
The Vaping division was also "a major growth engine", with revenue rising to GBP82.8 million from GBP76.1 million.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation surged 96% to GBP38.1 million from GBP19.4 million. Adjusted items include share-based payments charge and non-recurring items.
Supreme intends to pay a final dividend of 3.2p per share, bringing payouts back to growth after its 2.2p dividend for financial 2023 which was reduced from the prior year's 3.8p.
This, along with a 1.5p interim dividend, brought Supreme's total payout up by 57% to 4.7p per share from 3.0p.
Looking ahead, Supreme expects the year to March 31, 2025 "to be another profitable and highly cash-generative year", adding that it is currently "trading comfortably in line with current market expectations".
Supreme noted that immediately before the report's publication, analyst consensus for financial 2025 forecast revenue of GBP242 million and adjusted Ebitda of GBP36.9 million.
The firm added that it is "mindful of potential legislative changes to the UK vaping market", most notably the government's "highly publicised proposal to ban disposable vaping devices in a bid to combat underage vaping".
However, Supreme reassured investors that it continues "to work with our key vaping customers and partners to ensure a smooth transition as any new measures are absorbed by the market", pointing out its "established suite of fully compliant" reusable vape products.
Supreme also noted, among its operational highlights, that it had announced its own "numerous proactive measures to combat underage vaping" which it "strongly believes" all industry participants should adopt.
Despite the upbeat annual report, shares in Supreme were trading 4.9% lower at 170.24p on Tuesday morning in London.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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