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(Alliance News) - Avon Rubber PLC on Wednesday said it has seen a strong revenue growth throughout its financial year and has continued to operate with "only minor disruptions" caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The UK-based respiratory protection equipment manufacturer reported a pretax profit of GBP500,000 for the financial year ended September 30, decreasing from GBP8.7 million the year prior. Charges for depreciation, amortisation and impairments rose to GBP27.7 million in the recent year from GBP13.5 million a year before. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit was up 27% to GBP28.2 million from GBP22.2 million.
Avon Rubber's revenue rose to GBP168.0 million, which was a 31% increase from GBP128.4 million year-on-year. The company said the revenue growth comprised of just 0.1% in organic constant currency growth, with a 31.7% contribution from its Helmets & Armor acquisition from US-based 3M Co back in January and a 1.0% currency headwind.
The company declared a final dividend per share of 18.06 pence, which resulted in a full year total dividend of 27.08p as of September 30. This is an increase of 30% from 20.82p the year before.
Chief Executive Paul McDonald said: "2020 has been a year of both significant strategic evolution and strong organic execution for Avon Rubber. We have again delivered strong results ahead of expectations and continued to make significant steps transforming the business into a leading provider of life critical personal protection products.
"We have consistently delivered on our strategy to invest in expanding our product portfolio to meet more of the protection needs of our customers. This has enabled us to build a broader and more visible long-term contract portfolio to position the business to deliver further growth in 2021 and beyond."
Looking ahead, Avon Rubber said the 2021 financial year will benefit from a full year contribution from its Helmets & Armor division and its acquisition of Team Wendy LLC, which was completed early last month.
"We expect revenues from helmet and armour products to continue at the current level in the first half of the year, with growth in the second half driven by deliveries under the new US Department of Defence body armour contracts following completion of first article testing," it said. The company also forecasts Team Wendy's revenue to grow in line with its investor proposition of 3%+ per annum in 2021.
Shares in Avon Rubber were down 6.7% at 4,310.00 pence in London on Wednesday.
By Zoe Wickens; zoewickens@alliancenews.com
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