The Morrison's PLC announce a proposed final ordinary dividend is 5.11p per share, taking the full-year ordinary dividend up 5.6% to 7.15p (2019/20: 6.77p). This is both consistent with our announcement in December 2020 that the final 2020/21 dividend would be based on underlying profit before the impact of waiving £230m of business rates relief, and is in line with our policy to pay a sustainable ordinary dividend covered around two times by EPS before exceptionals. In addition, with the previously deferred H2 2019/20 special dividend of 4.00p declared in December 2020 and paid in January 2021, the full-year total dividend is up 27.1% to 11.15p (2019/20: 8.77p).
Other financial highlights include:
●Group like-for-like (LFL) sales ex-fuel/ex-VAT up 8.6% (2019/20: down 0.8%), with Q4 LFL up 9.0% (Q4 2019/20: down 2.1%)
●Total revenue up 0.4% to £17.6bn (2019/20: £17.5bn)
●Profit before tax and exceptionals down 50.7% to £201m (2019/20: £408m), including £290m direct COVID-19 costs to help feed the nation through the crisis
●Profit before tax and exceptionals would have been up 5.6% to £431m before the payment of £230m of waived government business rates relief
●EPS before exceptionals down 54.9% to 5.95p (2019/20: 13.18p)
●Profit before tax down 62.1% to £165m (2019/20: £435m) after net exceptional costs of £36m including online capacity transformation, impairment and restructuring
●Free cash outflow(3) £450m (2019/20: £238m inflow) due to lower profit and temporary impacts of lower fuel sales, higher stock and paying small suppliers immediately
●Net debt £3,169m (2019/20: £2,458m), or £1,798m pre-IFRS 16 (2019/20: £1,082m)
●Net pension accounting surplus £718m (2019/20: £944m)
●ROCE down to 3.9% (2019/20: 7.0%) due to lower profit before exceptionals
