Fenner full-year profit slides, upbeat outlook

13th Nov 2013 08:48

- Annual pre-tax profit slides 23 per cent - Improved sentiment in Australian and US mining sector- Final dividend raised to 7.5pReinforced polymer technology firm Fenner reported a sharp drop in full-year pre-tax profit, after difficult trading in the first half, but said its performance improved strongly in the second half as sentiment picks up.The maker of industrial belting products said that pre-tax profits fell to £67.9m for the year ended August 31st 2013 from £88.6m a year earlier. Revenue slipped to £820.6m during the year from £830.6m previously. Underlying operating profit declined to £101.5m from £118.8m while underlying earnings per share fell to 30.1p from 36.1p. Chief Executive Officer Nicholas Hobson said: "The first half of the financial year saw a robust response by both Engineered Conveyor Solutions (ECS) and Advanced Engineered Products (AEP) to difficult trading conditions in certain key markets. Our financial performance recovered strongly in the second half of the year as conditions showed some signs of improvement. "Fenner is well positioned as we enter our 2014 financial year, with the benefit of the investments made in both divisions over recent years, a strong financial position and a mixed but generally improving global economic environment. Overall, we continue to expect that the current financial year will see a return to growth." The group said it was seeing improved sentiment among mining customers in Australia and the US and expects its main Engineered Conveyor Solutions ECS division to benefit from this upturn in confidence.Underling its confidence in future trading, Fenner has recommended a final dividend of 7.5p per share, up from 7.0p the year earlier. CJ