Last checked at 4 Feb 2020 07:00
4 February 2020
DCC plc
Interim Management Statement
Trading in line with expectations
DCC plc, the leading international sales, marketing and support services group, is issuing this Interim Management Statement for the third quarter ended 31 December 2019.
Third quarter ended 31 December 2019
Notwithstanding the more difficult macroeconomic environment, particularly in the UK, and relatively mild weather conditions, DCC delivered a good trading performance in the third quarter of the financial year and Group operating profit for the period was in line with expectations.
DCC LPG continued to perform strongly and delivered good organic profit growth and also benefited from the contribution of Pacific Coast Energy, acquired earlier in the financial year. DCC Retail & Oil performed in line with expectations and benefitted from a good performance from the division's retail activities. Following the disposal of its UK generic pharma business during the first half of the year, DCC Healthcare delivered good like-for-like profit growth and successfully completed the previously announced acquisition of Ion Labs during the quarter. As anticipated, trading in DCC Technology's UK business was impacted by the general weakness in the UK technology market, reflecting the more difficult economic environment. The remainder of the Technology division recorded good growth.
DCC has grown substantially in recent years and now has significant operations across 20 countries, with market-leading positions in each of its LPG, Retail & Oil, Technology and Healthcare divisions. DCC's ambition and capacity for further development, together with the Group's leading market positions and increased geographic reach, provide substantial opportunity for the continued growth and development of the business.
Year ending 31 March 2020
Assuming normal weather conditions for the balance of the financial year, the Group reiterates its belief that the year ending 31 March 2020 will be another year of development and good growth in Group operating profit, in line with current market consensus expectations.
Final results
DCC expects to announce its results for the year ending 31 March 2020 on 19 May 2020.
For reference:
Donal Murphy, Chief Executive
Fergal O'Dwyer, Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Lucey, Head of Capital Markets
Telephone: +353 1 2799400
Email: investorrelations@dcc.ie
Web: www.dcc.ie
Powerscourt (Media)
Lisa Kavanagh / Victoria Palmer-Moore
Telephone: +44 20 7250 1446
Email: DCC@powerscourt-group.com
About DCC plc
DCC is a leading international sales, marketing and support services group with a clear focus on performance and growth. It operates through four divisions: LPG, Retail & Oil, Healthcare and Technology.
DCC is an ambitious and entrepreneurial business operating in 20 countries, supplying products and services used by millions of people every day. Building strong routes to market, driving for results, focusing on cash conversion and generating superior sustainable returns on capital employed enable the Group to reinvest in its business, creating value for its stakeholders.
Headquartered in Dublin, employing approximately 13,000 people, DCC's four divisions are:
DCC LPG - a leading LPG sales and marketing business with operations in Europe, the US and Asia and a developing business in the retailing of natural gas and electricity;DCC Retail & Oil - a leader in the sales, marketing and retailing of transport fuels and commercial fuels, heating oils and related products and services in Europe;DCC Technology - a leading route-to-market and supply chain partner for global technology brands and customers; andDCC Healthcare - a leading healthcare business, providing products and services to healthcare providers and health and beauty brand owners.
DCC plc is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100. In its financial year ended 31 March 2019, DCC generated revenue of £15.2 billion and operating profit of £460 million.
DCC has an excellent record, delivering compound annual growth of 14% in operating profit and generating an average return on capital employed of approximately 19% over 25 years as a public company.
Forward-looking statements
This announcement contains some forward-looking statements that represent DCC's expectations for its business, based on current expectations about future events, which by their nature involve risk and uncertainty. DCC believes that its expectations and assumptions with respect to these forward-looking statements are reasonable, however because they involve risk and uncertainty as to future circumstances, which are in many cases beyond DCC's control, actual results or performance may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements.