Preliminary announcement of results for the year ended 30 September 2018
LPA Group plc (“LPA” or the “Group”), the high reliability LED lighting and electro-mechanical system manufacturer and distributor, announces record results for the year ended 30 September 2018 and record orders in the first quarter.
Preliminary results key points:
KEY POINTS • Sales up £5.50m (24.5%) at £27.98m (2017: £22.48m) • Operating profit before exceptional items up 18.4% at £2.24m (2017: £1.90m) • Exceptional and non-underlying items (cost) £175,000 (2017: (gain) £73,000) • Profit before tax up 5.7% at £2.02m (2017: £1.91m) • Basic earnings per share amounted to 14.34p (2017: 14.40p) • Final dividend increased 9% to 1.80p (2017: 1.65p), total for the year 2.90p (2017: 2.70p) • Gearing reduced to 15.5% (2017: 25.7%) • Order entry amounted to £20.2m (2017: £26.1m) • Order book amounted to £13.8m (2017: £21.6m) • Continued investments in automation and productivity throughout the year
Peter Pollock – Chairman commented:
“The 2018 financial year proved exceptional, delivering a third successive year of record sales and profits, exceeding expectations.
As expected, order entry fell back relative to the very high levels achieved in 2017, reflecting the fluctuating demands of our markets, but were nevertheless very high in historical terms and the fifth highest on record.
As previously reported, some major rail projects, including CrossRail, have been delayed and as a consequence the current year has started quietly, reflecting the lower current demand, which is expected to pick up substantially as the year progresses.
Happily, orders entered in the first quarter have been a new record at over £9m, exceeding order entry for the first half of last year and under pinning progress in the medium term. Contract orders include Central and Waterloo & City lines lighting refurbishment with LUL, £4.7m including a further support contract; £670k lighting for Doha Metro extension through Kinki Sharyo and £1.4m bespoke electro-mechanical underframe structures for a major UK rail OEM.
After a slow start the year as a whole should be satisfactory.”