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10 September 2020
Ricardo plc - Preliminary results for the full year ended 30 June 2020
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HIGHLIGHTS
- Good performance in H1 with COVID-19 impacting performance in H2
- Energy & Environment, Defense and Rail all delivered an increase in profits on the prior year
- Automotive-related businesses were significantly impacted with lower profits than prior year
- We experienced a delay in some orders being placed and some challenges in the delivery of projects due to Ricardo and customers working remotely, leading to reduced levels of efficiency and lower margins
- Automotive-related businesses restructured to provide lower cost base (c. £10m per annum) and realign it to anticipated demand
- Disposal of DTC test business and exit from Santa Clara, in line with agile and asset-light strategy
- Acquired businesses in Australia integrated and performing well
- Good cash performance with positive working capital for the year – net debt was flat for the COVID-19 impacted H2. Cash resources increased by £50m and liquidity of £143m at 30 June 2020
- Majority of offices and all assembly lines now open and operational following significant disruption during H2; and
- Interim dividend of 6.24p paid in April 2020 – no final dividend proposed.
| % Change | ||||||
| FY 2019/20 | FY 2018/19 | (Decline)/growth | Organic(6)(7) | |||
| Order intake (£m) | 368.7 | 386.0 | (4) | (10) | ||
| Order book (£m) | 314.0 | 314.0 | - | - | ||
| Revenue (£m) | 352.0 | 384.4 | (8) | (12) | ||
| Underlying(1) | ||||||
| - Operating profit margin (%) | 5.7 | 10.3 | (4.6) | pp | (5.2) | pp |
| - Profit before tax (£m) | 15.6 | 37.0 | (58) | (62) | ||
| - Basic earnings per share(2) (p) | 21.3 | 53.7 | (60) | (60) | ||
| Statutory | ||||||
| - Operating (loss)/profit margin (%) | (0.3) | 7.6 | (7.9) | pp | (8.6) | pp |
| - (Loss)/profit before tax (£m) | (5.3) | 26.5 | (120) | (118) | ||
| - Basic (loss)/earnings per share (p) | (12.2) | 37.1 | (133) | (133) | ||
| Underlying(1) cash conversion(3) (%) | 102.1 | 75.3 | 26.8 | pp | 26.1 | pp |
| Cash conversion(3) (%) | 112.9 | 74.4 | 38.5 | pp | 37.6 | pp |
| Net debt(4) (£m) | (73.4) | (47.4) | (55) | n/a | ||
| Dividend per share (p) | 6.24 | 21.28 | (71) | n/a | ||
| Headcount(5) (no.) | 3,003 | 2,981 | 1 | - | ||
Commenting on the results, Dave Shemmans, Chief Executive Officer, said:
"The pandemic has made this a time of extreme global volatility. The resilience of our business has helped us weather the storm well - thanks to the agility and passion of our team and the underpinning strategy to be active in diverse geographies and sectors. I couldn't be prouder of our team as they transitioned to home working and focused on finding solutions in a "new normal" to deliver products and services to our global clients.
“We enter the new financial year with a good order book and we secured over £70m of new orders in July and August 2020. We have an agile business that has proven its resilience in a highly uncertain environment. We continue to see good opportunities for Ricardo in the markets that we serve, and through the execution of our strategy we are well positioned to continue to grow our Group as a sustainable business that delivers value for all of our stakeholders."
Ricardo plc - Full announcement of preliminary results PDF copy can be found here.
Ricardo plc - Results presentation of preliminary results PDF copy can be found here.
Further enquiries:
Ricardo plc
Dave Shemmans, Chief Executive Officer / Ian Gibson, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: 01273 455611
Newgate Communications LLP
Adam Lloyd / Ian Silvera / Isabelle Smurfit
Tel: 020 7680 6550
E-mail: ricardo@newgatecomms.com
