press notice

Back to press notices

4th March 2003

BBA GROUP PLC

PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2002

Preliminary results

  • Sales (from continuing operations) up 4 per cent to £1,343m (2001: £1,289m)
  • Profit Before Tax* £134.3m (2001: £123.4m), an increase of 9 per cent or 11 per cent excluding translation impact of exchange rate movements
  • Earnings per share** 20.6p up 12 per cent (2001: 18.4p)
  • Annual dividend increased by 4 per cent to 10.5p (2001: 10.1p)
  • Major improvement in free cash flow. 2002 inflow £79m (2001: inflow £29m)
  • Aviation Services: sales increase by 8 per cent, business aviation volumes up 3 per cent, US commercial aviation margins 9 per cent
  • Materials Technology: underlying sales growth*** of 2 per cent, margins improve to 13.5 per cent (2001: 13.1 per cent)
  • Share Buy Back programme

Commenting on the results, Roy McGlone, BBA Group Chief Executive, said:

"Against the difficult background of 2002, we are pleased to report continued progress and a strong recovery in earnings and cash flow from 2001. These results reflect the benefits of actions taken over the last 2 years to strengthen both our businesses. Pre-tax profits were 9 per cent up on the previous year (11 per cent excluding currency). The 4 per cent increase in the dividend reflects the Board's confidence in the Group's outlook and its ability to deliver strong cash flows in the future. Our free cash flow of £79 million, which was almost £50 million higher than the prior year, enabled all of the acquisitions made during the year to be funded from internally generated cash flow. We also announce today details of a rolling on-market share buy back programme, which we will be pursuing during the year.

We have two market leading businesses generating double-digit margins and very good cash flow. We are not immune from the effects of current global uncertainties. However, for the year overall, we believe we can continue to make progress.

* defined as statutory profit before tax of £61.4m (2001: £34.6m) excluding goodwill amortisation and exceptional items £72.0m (2001: £86.9m) and discontinued operations of £(0.9)m (2001: £(1.9)m). This measure of earnings is shown because the directors consider that this gives a better indication of underlying performance.

** basic earnings per share of 7.9p (2001: 2.5p) adjusted to exclude the after-tax impact of goodwill amortisation and exceptional items of 12.5p (2001: 15.6p) and discontinued operations of 0.2p (2001: £0.3p). Prior year numbers have been restated to reflect the adoption of FRS 19: Deferred Tax.

*** at constant exchange rates and excluding any discontinued production lines or businesses.

If you would like to read more, download this PDF (456kb)