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Interim Results for the six months to 30 June 2018

06 AUGUST 2018

FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

 
 
 

Six months to 30th June 2018

Six months to 30 June 2017
Order book

£969.2m

£807.8m
Revenue

£350.5m

£366.4m
Underlying operating profit*(1)

£47.9m 

£57.6m 
Statutory operating profit

£30.4m

£25.4m 
Underlying profit before tax*(2)

£43.6m

£52.3m  
Statutory profit before tax

£20.0m

£30.9m
Underlying basic earnings per share(2)

45.1p

58.3p
Basic earnings per share

20.0p

37.6p
Interim dividend per share

14.6p 

14.6p
Net debt EBITDA

1.39x 

1.78x

KEY POINTS

  • Group benefitting from increased US defence spending
  • Organic(3) growth in H1
    • Revenue growth of 1.3% (H1 2017: organic decline of 6.7%)
    • Profit growth of 1.4% (H1 2017: organic decline of 5.4%) excluding £6.1m impact of development contracts
  • FX headwind impact in H1: revenue by 5.5% and underlying operating profit by 5.8%
  • H1 operating margin of 13.7%; 15.4% excluding impact of development contracts (H1 2017: 15.7%)
  • Strong order book of £969.2m, organic(3) growth of 19%
  • As at 30 June 2018, £49.7m spent as part of previously announced share buyback

Douglas Caster, Chairman, commented:  

“The majority of Ultra’s operations have had better than expected order intake during the period reflecting an improvement in our major market. As previously disclosed, cost overruns on specific development contracts impacted the reported results, however the Group as a whole performed broadly in line with management expectations.”

Simon Pryce, Chief Executive Officer, commented:  

“Although I have only been here a short time, it is clear that the Group has a strong and relevant technology base and a range of specialist capabilities supporting a broad number of long term platforms and programmes.

“We enter the second half with a strong order book and remain focused on execution and delivery while continuing to win new business. The Group is well positioned in areas of priority spend with significant exposure to the strengthening US defence budget. We will also be looking at the potential for greater connectivity, operational improvement and further targeted investment in core technology, processes and people. Management’s expectations for 2018 are unchanged from our recent pre-close trading statement.”

(1)  before the S3 programme, amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisitions, impairment charges, acquisition and disposal related costs net of contingent consideration adjustments, and significant legal charges and expenses. IFRS operating profit was £30.4m (2017: £25.4m). See Note 4 for reconciliation.

(2) before the S3 programme, amortisation of intangibles arising on acquisitions, impairment charges, fair value movements on derivatives, unwinding of discount on provisions, defined benefit pension finance charges, acquisition and disposal related costs net of contingent consideration adjustments, significant legal charges and expense, and, in the case of underlying earnings per share, before related taxation. Basic EPS 20.0p (2017: 37.6p). See Note 10 for reconciliation.

(3) organic growth is the annual rate of increase or decrease in revenue, profit and order book that was achieved at constant currencies and when compared to the prior period results prepared on an IFRS 15 basis. Adjustment is also made for any acquisitions or disposals to reflect the comparable period of ownership.