The Bunzl Board is recommending an interim dividend of 18.2p, 5.2% higher than the prior year, following on from the Group's 30th consecutive year of annual dividend growth in 2022. The Group remains committed to ensuring sustainable dividend growth, with dividend cover starting to normalise towards the pre-pandemic level. Between 2004 and 30 June 2023, Bunzl has returned £2.1 billion to shareholders through dividends and has committed £4.9 billion in acquisitions to support a growth strategy that has delivered an annual adjusted earnings per share CAGR between 2004 and 2022 of c.10%.
Other financial highlights include:
●Revenue grew by 0.6% at constant exchange rates, and grew by 2.4% excluding the UK healthcare disposal
●Adjusted operating profit increased by 2.5% at constant exchange rates, with growth of 4.1% excluding the UK healthcare disposal; reported operating profit increased by 9.9%
●Operating margin increased from 7.3% to 7.4%
●Adjusted earnings per share declined by 1.7% at constant exchange rates, and grew by 0.2% excluding the UK healthcare disposal, due to an expected increase in net finance expense and tax rate; reported basic earnings per share rose 6.9%
●Free cash flow grew by 21% at actual exchange rates to £286.3 million; supported by a substantial reduction in inventory
●12 acquisitions announced August year-to-date, including two announced today, with a total committed spend of more than £350 million; their pipeline remains active
●Net debt to EBITDA of 1.1 times providing substantial headroom for acquisitions; resilient return on invested capital of 14.9% compared to 13.6% at the end of 2019, prior to the pandemic
●2023 outlook: adjusted operating profit guidance upgraded, driven by a meaningful increase in operating margin expectations
