The Hill & Smith Board has announced that they appreciate the importance of the dividend to shareholders and is announcing the resumption of dividend payments with the declaration of an interim dividend for FY 2020 of 9.2p per share (2019: 10.6p). The interim dividend will be paid on 8 January 2021 to shareholders on the register on 4 December 2020. In deciding the interim dividend, the Board has weighed the Group's trading and outlook against the need to maintain prudent ratios after considering all potential investment opportunities. As previously announced, the proposed 2019 final dividend was withdrawn and will now not be paid. The Board will continue to review the application of its dividend policy but is focused on maintaining dividends that are sustainable and progressive.
Other financial highlights include:
Safety, health and wellbeing of all employees has remained a key priority during the COVID-19 pandemic
Resilient performance with all Group divisions remaining profitable throughout the first half
- US businesses delivered organic revenue and profit growth in the period
- Progressive improvement in Group trading since April
Strong cash generation supported by cash preservation actions
Robust financial position with net debt of £195.4m and c.£193m of facilities headroom
Outlook for infrastructure spend remains positive
