12 Jun
Announcement of Preliminary Results for the year to 31 March 2018
Oxford Instruments plc, a leading provider of high technology products and systems for industry and research, today announces its Preliminary Results for the year to 31 March 2018.
| Year ended 31 March 2018 | Year ended 31 March 2017 | % change | |
| £m | £m | ||
| Revenue1 | 296.9 | 300.2 | (1.1%) |
| Adjusted* operating profit1 | 46.5 | 38.0 | +22.4% |
| Adjusted* profit before tax1 | 42.3 | 31.5 | +34.3% |
| Profit/(loss) before tax1 | 34.2 | (26.2) | |
| Adjusted* basic earnings per share1 | 56.3p | 41.5p | +35.7% |
| Dividend per share (full year) | 13.3p | 13.0p | +2.3% |
| Cash generated from operations1 | 33.4 | 34.5 | |
| Net debt | 19.7 | 109.3 |
Financial Highlights:
- Reported orders up 5.0% to £313.0 million (2017: £298.0 million), an increase of 5.8% at constant currency.
- Reported order book of £134.0 million as at 31 March 2018, up 5.0% (10.4% at constant currency). Excluding US Healthcare, order book up 18.4% on a constant currency basis.
- Reported revenue in line with previous year at constant currency.
- Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations up 22.4% to £46.5 million (2017: £38.0 million), with a currency benefit of £10.6 million – margin increase of 300 basis points to 15.7%.
- Adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations up 34.3% to £42.3 million (2017: £31.5 million), an increase of 0.6% at constant currency.
- Profit before tax from continuing operations of £34.2 million (2017: loss of £26.2 million).
- Net debt down significantly to £19.7 million following good operating cash flow and disposals. Profit after tax from sale of Industrial Analysis of £45.9 million and net proceeds of £71.2 million.
- Full year dividend increased by 2.3% to 13.3 pence.
Operational Highlights:
- Good progress in the early implementation of our Horizon Strategy, in particular:
- Strong growth in orders and order book demonstrate early success from our market application focus;
- Increased management and leadership capability across the Group;
- Transitioned to a more commercially focused, market-driven Group to address a broad range of industrial and academic markets; and
- Continued investment in R&D with increased focus on customer solutions.
- Strong financial performance across Materials & Characterisation driven by leading product portfolio and customer applications focus in growing markets.
- Good second half performance in Research & Discovery was offset by a weaker first half. Constant currency order book up 15.3%.
- Profit and margin growth in Service & Healthcare driven by services relating to our own products. Reduction in revenue from the anticipated decline in the sale of refurbished imaging systems.
Outlook:
- Our chosen end markets remain attractive, supported by commercial and government investment. Our growing order book, customer application focus and drive for operational efficiencies provide confidence for the year ahead.
- We expect to see an improvement in performance on a reported basis2 after allowing for the impact of an anticipated currency headwind, based on current exchange rates.
Ian Barkshire, Chief Executive of Oxford Instruments plc, said:
“We have made good progress in the year with the early implementation of the Horizon strategy, which was introduced in May 2017.
We have positioned the Group to become a leading provider of high technology products and services to the world’s leading industrial companies and scientific research communities to image, analyse and manipulate materials down to the atomic and molecular level. Our chosen end markets remain robust and, combined with our customer applications focus and improved core capabilities, provide strong long-term drivers for future growth and margin improvement.”
1Continuing operations
2Before the adoption of IFRS 15 ‘Revenue for Contracts with Customers’ and IFRS 16 ‘Leases’
Enquiries:
Oxford Instruments plc
Tel: 01865 393200
Ian Barkshire, Chief Executive
Gavin Hill, Group Finance Director
MHP Communications
Tel: 020 3128 8100
Rachel Hirst / Luke Briggs
*NOTE: Throughout this preliminary announcement we make reference to adjusted numbers. A full definition of adjusted numbers can be found in note 1. Where we make reference to constant currency numbers these are prepared on a month by month basis using the translational and transactional exchange rates which prevailed in the previous year rather than the actual exchange rates which prevailed in the year. Transactional exchange rates include the effect of our hedging programme.