Dividend hike after Fenner profits grow
INDUSTRIAL belting firm Fenner is to reward shareholders after growing underlying pre-tax profits by 30%.
Shareholders will see their dividend rise 31% to 10.5p as underlying earnings per share grew 28% to 36.1p.
Fenner saw revenue and profit growth in both its Engineered Conveyor Solutions and Advanced Engineered Products divisions as it posted underlying pre-tax profits of £103.9m.
Fenner chairman Mark Abrahams said: “The year just ended was one of excellent growth, delivering record results. Reflecting this performance, the improved quality of the group’s earnings and our confidence in the future growth of the business, the board is recommending a 31% increase in the dividend for the year.
“We remain mindful of the current global economic uncertainty. Given both anticipated end market trends and the very strong first half last year, we expect our performance to be more heavily weighted to the second half of the current year.
“As a result of our investment programme over recent years, Fenner is a much stronger and more resilient business serving a more diverse customer base. The fundamentals of our core markets underpin healthy, long-term growth, and we continue to be encouraged by the number of identified opportunities for sustained value creation.”
The company said its ECS division had seen slower demand from the US coal sector although this had bottomed in May and offset by growth elsewhere.
