The Chemring Group plc Board has declared an interim dividend in respect of the 2024 financial year of 2.6p (H1 2023: 2.3p) per ordinary share which will be paid on 6 September 2024 to shareholders on the register on 16 August 2024.
Other financial highlights include:
Record H1 order intake of £345m and order book of £1,041m, the highest in Chemring's history, providing excellent medium-term revenue coverage
H1 2024 was in line with the Board's expectations:
- Revenue growth of 8%, driven by strong performance at Roke, up 19%, and growth in their specialist energetic materials businesses offset by a weaker period for Countermeasures
- Underlying operating profit margin of 11.2% (H1 2023: 12.7%) primarily reflecting the impact of operational challenges at our Tennessee Countermeasures business in the period
- Improved cash conversion of 83% (H1 2023: 64%) as focus on working capital management maintained
Awarded £90m of grant funding in support of their capex investment to increase the capacity of their Norwegian site, amid unprecedented levels of demand for its products
Strategy to increase overall investment in their Energetics capacity expansion plan from £120m to £200m, excluding grant funding. Targeting increased revenues (£100m p.a.) and operating profit (£30m p.a.) in 2028
Good progress made on capital projects to date, with £34m of capex spent in total during the period, and customers increasingly moving to long-term partnering agreements
A further £28m deployed into the £50m share buyback programme announced on 1 August 2023
Net debt was £75.3m (H1 2023: £25.0m), with the increase as expected due to their decision to invest in capex. Net debt to underlying EBITDA of 0.85 times (H1 2023: 0.36 times) remains below the Group's internal target of less than 1.5 times cover
The Board's expectations for 2024 are unchanged, with heavier H2 weighting of operating profit as previously communicated in February 2024. Approximately 93% (H1 2023: 90%) of expected H2 revenue was in the order book at 30 April 2024
