Citing the unprecedented level of uncertainty surrounding COVID19, on 31 March Rotork withdrew their forward guidance for the current year. They retain this position as considerable uncertainty remains, and therefore they are not announcing a dividend in respect of this period today. They are however announcing that they will be paying the previously deferred 2019 final dividend of 3.9p per share. They will consider the dividend payable in respect of the whole of 2020 at the end of the year, and pay this in May 2021.
Other financial highlights include:
Order intake was lower year-on-year, reflecting a sharp reduction in global economic activity, the strong comparative period and extreme volatility in hydrocarbon prices
Revenues declined in the period, largely due to COVID-19 disruption to production facilities and Rotork Site Services, but increased sequentially through May and June
Water & Power provides essential products and services and reported an encouraging performance with sales growing 7% OCC driven by increased refurbishment activity
Flow through of lower revenue to adjusted operating profit from H1 2019 was limited to just 17%, and from H2 2019 was 33%, demonstrating improved cyclical resilience
Profit margins benefited from continued execution of our Growth Acceleration Programme, cost mitigation actions, reduced discretionary spend and mix
Strong balance sheet maintained, bolstered by 116% cash conversion, with period end net cash of £144m. ROCE 30.7%, +100 bps compared with H1 2019
