Vesuvius, a leading enginnered ceramics company, has declared a dividend increase of 3.3%.
Resilient Half-1 2019 performance in line with the prior year, despite challenging steel markets outside of China and light vehicle related markets in Foundry. Underlying revenue and trading profit (EBITA) down 1.1% and 0.5%, respectively. Return-on-Sales maintained at 11.1%. £5.8m of restructuring savings delivered in H1 2019. Expansion of the restructuring programmes targeting £16.0m of additional savings by 2021 including CCPI targeted synergies which have increased significantly versus initial expectations. Working capital to revenue ratio at 23.9%, in-line with the level at year-end 2018. Net Debt / LTM EBITDA at 1.3x, up from 1.0x at year-end 2018 due to the CCPI acquisition and IFRS 16 reclassification of leases
Interim dividend increased by 3.3% to 6.2 pence per share.
