18th Mar 2014 08:47
LONDON (Alliance News) - Xaar PLC Tuesday doubled its full-year dividend as it saw pretax profit jump in 2013, boosted by strong growth in its digital printing products for ceramic tiles, particularly in China. The company also announced the departure of Chief Executive Ian Dinwoodie in 2015.
The digital inkjet printing technology company declared a dividend of 8.0 pence for 2013, doubled from 4.0 pence in the previous year.
The company posted a pretax profit of GBP40.1 million, more than doubled from GBP15.7 million, as revenue rose to GBP134.1 million from GBP86.3 million, driven by strong sales from industrial markets as trends in ceramic tile decoration continued to shift from analogue processes to digital processes.
Xaar's digital printing technology saw increasing adoption through the latter part of 2012 and early part of 2013 in China, with original equipment manufacturers in both Europe and in China servicing the Chinese market using Xaar's 1001 product.
Industrial markets revenue was GBP98.2 million, up from GBP55.0 million in the previous year, and accounted for 72% of total revenue, up from 64%.
The company doubled its research and development costs during the year as it invested in headcount, facilities and engineering costs. The company also began a GBP30 million investment to increase production capacity at its Huntingdon manufacturing facility by 75%. It expects this to be in place by the middle of 2014.
As a result of the larger scale of its research and development function, Xaar has opted to split it into two departments. Former research and development director Ramon Borrell will lead the second division focussed on thin-film technology products, and Brian James will lead the first, focussed bulk Piezoelectric material products
The company has appointed Edmund Creutzmann as chief technology officer, taking effect as of April 1. Creutzmann previously held positions at Siemens AG and Océ Printing Systems GmbH
Chief Executive Dinwoodie announced Tuesday his plan to retire during 2015 and said that the search for his successor is already underway. Dinwoodie said that he would remain with the company to ensure a smooth transition.
"After 12 challenging and enjoyable years at Xaar I have decided to retire during 2015. My decision is entirely a personal one, and I remain fully committed to continuing the development of the company between now and my planned retirement date," said Dinwoodie in a statement.
Xaar tempered its outlook, noting that it expects growth to be more modest over the next period, but said that looking ahead opportunities for digital print continue to develop.
The company has several new project launches lined up for 2014. It plans to to deliver its first thin film piezo technology commercially in late 2016.
Shares in Xaar were trading down 8.1% at 916.65 pence Tuesday morning.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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