(Alliance News) - Augean PLC on Wednesday kept its annual dividend suspended due to its net debt position, as the company swung to a loss despite revenue growth.
For 2019, the hazardous waste treatment and disposal company reported a pretax loss of GBP15.3 million, compared to a profit of GBP10.6 million the year before.
Walton, UK-based Augean booked a GBP26.2 million charge related to the settlement of landfill tax assessments.
In December, HMRC issued Augean South with a final assessment for GBP16.2 million from the period from February 2015 to May 2018, and in October a GBP11.4 million bill was issued to Augean North.
Augean made payments against its tax assessments for a total of GBP10.4 million.
On an adjusted basis, pretax profit rose by 68% to GBP19.2 million from GBP11.4 million.
Revenue grew by 34% year-on-year to GBP107.1 million from GBP79.7 million, driven by good sales growth at all sites, with the Treatment & Disposal segment up 24% and North Sea up by 61%.
Augean said it will not pay a dividend until its net debt, which was recently drawn down to fund the HMRC payment is significantly reduced.
As at December 31, the group's net debt was GBP17.8 million, compared to a cash position of GBP8.2 million a year before.
Looking ahead, Augean said it has made a strong start to trading in the first months of 2020, with results already ahead of the same period a year before. The compay is confident in its prospects for the year, it said.
"2019 was a good year for the group. I look forward to making further progress in 2020 with growth in the group's core niche markets," said Executive Chair Jim Meredith.
Shares in Augean were down 1.2% at 214.51 pence on Wednesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; dayolaniyan@alliancenews.com
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