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(Alliance News) - Chemring Group PLC raised its shareholder payout on Tuesday as annual profit rose in line with guidance.
Chemring is a Romsey, England-based company that provides technology products and services to the aerospace, defence and security markets.
Revenue for the financial year that ended October 31 was GBP393.3 million, a 2.3% decline from GBP402.5 million the year before. Pretax profit rose by 13% to GBP48.8 million from GBP43.3 million.
The annual performance was in line with internal expectations, with a strong performance in both segments, Chemring explained, despite a foreign exchange translation headwind caused by the weakening of the US dollar.
Chemring's Sensors & Information division grew revenue by 6.9% to GBP146.6 million while the Countermeasures & Energetics segment saw a 7.0% decline to GBP246.7 million although the fall was only 3% on a constant currency basis.
On the back of bottom-line growth, Chemring declared a final dividend of 3.2 pence, up 23% from 2.6p in 2020. The decision results in a total dividend of 4.8p for the year, also up 23% from 3.9p the year prior.
Shares were trading 0.2% lower in London on Tuesday at 288.50 pence each.
Chief Executive Michael Ord commented: "Despite being another challenging year in which we have continued to operate under the restrictions of Covid-19, I am delighted with the financial and operational progress that has been made across Chemring. We have continued the process of transformation that was launched in 2019 as we build a stronger, higher-quality and technology-focused business."
Looking ahead, Chemring said annual guidance for 2022 is expected to be similar to 2021 with a slight bias towards the second half of the financial year.
Trading since the start of the current financial year has been in line with expectations, Chemring said, with 84% of 2022 expected revenue covered by the order book.
However Chemring cautioned that various supply chain and inflationary pressures are likely to continue into 2022 and impact trading to some extent.
"Chemring is well placed, with a robust strategy, market-leading positions across different geographies and sectors, and with products and services that are critical to our government and blue-chip customers around the world. Chemring's long-term prospects remain strong," Ord added.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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