Posted on: 16 May 2016
Braemar Shipping Services plc (LSE: BMS), a leading international provider of broking, consultancy, technical and other services to the shipping, marine, energy, offshore and insurance industries, announced full year results for the year ended 29 February 2016.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
· Revenue from underlying operations up over 9% to £159.1 million (2014/15: £145.6 million1)
· 20% increase in underlying operating profit* to £13.8 million (2014/15: £11.5 million1)
· Increase of 7.5% in underlying basic EPS** to 34.70p (2014/15: 32.28p)
· Strong free cash flow of £13.5m (2014/15: £7.3m)
· Net cash of £9.2m at 29 February 2016 (At 28 February 2015: £7.2m)
· Proposed full year dividend maintained at 26p per share; dividend cover increased to 1.3x (2014/15: 1.2x)
* Includes 7 months contribution from ACM Shipping Group PLC (“ACM”)
** Defined as arising from continuing operations before non-recurring and acquisition related costs
OPERATIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
· The Group’s diversification strategy ensured a resilient performance despite some challenging markets.
· Shipbroking division performed well and was significantly ahead of the same period last year, driven by the strength of the tanker markets.
· Total Shipbroking forward order book remains strong at approximately US$49 million, of which approximately US$26 million relates to 2016/17.
· Technical division performed in line with expectations, despite pressure from external macro-economic factors.
· Logistics division well set for future growth due to new opportunities in USA and Europe, despite having had a challenging year.
· New financing arrangements of up to £30m with HSBC established to provide flexibility for future M&A activity following our delivery of enhanced earnings through our successful merger to form Braemar ACM Shipbroking.
James Kidwell, CEO of Braemar, commenting on the results and outlook said: “Braemar had a good year and achieved a strong, resilient performance despite some challenging shipping and energy markets. Our full year results showed a significant improvement on the prior year, demonstrating the success of our strategy to diversify and grow the Group.”
“The Shipbroking business performed strongly as our diversity of services increased our competitive edge, enabling us to capitalise on a strong tanker market.”
“Our Technical division continued to respond positively to conditions in the energy sectors. While we do not expect to see a short term recovery in oil and gas exploration, early and rapid management action to address these challenges mean that the division is appropriately structured for the current phase of the market cycle and well positioned for the long term.”
“The Logistics division had a tough year, but is well set to deliver future growth having won some important new business.”
David Moorhouse, Chairman of Braemar, commenting on the results and outlook said: “We are pleased to have delivered on our objectives for the year, taking the opportunity to grow the business in both scale and strength during a period when activity in some of our core markets was reduced. We anticipate that our markets will continue to experience volatility and uncertainty, but that the balance of our portfolio creates greater stability which will enable us to continue to build the business. Our expectation for 2016/17 is for a broadly similar activity level overall, with the added potential for both organic and acquisitive growth.”
