NBI.L Regulatory News (NBI)

Northbridge Industrial Services Plc.

("Northbridge" or the "Group")

Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31 December 2012

Northbridge Industrial Services plc, the industrial services and rental company, today announces its preliminary results for the year ended 31 December 2012.

Highlights:

·; Consolidated Group revenue up 24% to £30.8 million (2011: £24.9 million)

·; Operating cash flow up 76% to £8.4 million (2011: £4.8 million)

·; 10% increase in the proposed final dividend to 3.575 pence, raising the total dividend for the year to 5.425 pence (2011: 5.0 pence), an overall increase of 8.5%

·; Strong H2 performance delivers basic earnings per share of 24.0p in line with expectations (2011: 15.1p)

·; Hire fleet expenditure £7.8 million (2011: £2.4 million) in the year (principally on oil tools and transformers)

·; New UK premises acquired (freehold £1.25 million, total investment £1.7 million) enabling increased manufacturing capacity

·; Record year for Tasman Oil Tools in Australia

·; Good first year performance by Northbridge Transformers

Eric Hook, Chief Executive Officer, commenting on the results and outlook said:

"We are pleased with the performance achieved and the Group's continued progress during 2012 at a time when the economies in certain geographies has continued to prove challenging.

During the year we made a number of step changes to the business and in particular I would like to highlight our new UK premises, which will give us additional growth capacity for the foreseeable future and the accelerated fleet capital expenditure throughout the group where we have already seen the benefits to our cash flow. Tasman Oil Tools in Australia achieved a record year and we experienced a very good first full year for our transformer rental business. Having started 2013 with good levels of continuing rental projects and demand for our manufactured products we expect continued growth this year. We continue to be confident in the Group's prospects and remain committed to the Group's stated strategy and objectives."

Outlook:

The first quarter of 2013 has started well with a number of large contracts continuing from last year and additionally new contracts have been won which are planned to commence in the first half of 2013.

There are signs of recovery and improvement in most of our markets and the shortfall of larger rental projects in power testing and commissioning has already eased. Delays in projected start dates of certain contracts are still being experienced, but with an increased fleet size we are better able to manage utilisation. Further hire fleet investment is planned for this year and our increased production capacity and additional marketing activity will lead to continued growth.

As a sign of the Board's confidence in the Group's prospects, an increase in the final dividend for 2012 of 10% has been proposed. We are pleased with the Group's progress in 2012 and, having started 2013 with good levels of continuing contracted rental demand and product sales orders, we expect continued growth this year in line with market expectations.

For further information

Northbridge Industrial Services plc 01283 531645

Eric Hook, Chief Executive Officer

Craig Robinson, Finance Director

Westhouse Securities Limited (Nominated Adviser and Broker) 020 7012 2000

Robert Finlay/Antonio Bossi /Henry Wilcocks

Buchanan 020 7466 5000

Charles Ryland / Clare Akhurst

About Northbridge:

Northbridge Industrial Services plc hires and sells specialist industrial equipment to a non-cyclical customer base. With offices or agents in the UK, US, Dubai, Belgium, Germany, France, Australia, Singapore, India, Brazil, Korea and Azerbaijan, Northbridge has a global customer base. This includes utility companies, the oil and gas sector, shipping, construction and the public sector. The product range includes loadbanks, transformers, generators, compressors and oil tools. Northbridge was admitted to AIM in 2006 since when it has recorded increased earnings and dividends based on providing a high level of service, responsiveness and flexibility to customers. It has grown by acquisition of companies in the UK, Dubai, Azerbaijan, Australia and Belgium and through investing further in those acquired companies to make them more successful. Northbridge continues to seek suitable businesses for acquisition across the world.

CHAIRMAN'S AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW

We are pleased to present our review of the Group's trading performance for 2012.

After a slow start to the year, which had been highlighted in our interim report, the Group enjoyed a much stronger second half year. This was aided by the eventual commencement of some of our larger contracts that had suffered from delays in the first half. In addition the larger international projects for power testing and commissioning began to return to more normal levels in the final quarter of 2012. All these factors benefited our rental volumes, which in the second half contributed 62.2% of total turnover, compared with 54.2% in the first half. For the year as a whole the percentage of revenue from rentals was 58.5%, up 1.6% from 2011 (56.9%). As a result cash generated from operations also grew strongly to £8.4 million (2011: £4.8 million), a rise of 76%.

Crestchic, our main UK subsidiary, continued to perform well and in particular the sales of manufactured units continued to grow strongly with volumes up 17.7% compared to 2011. Rental revenue again proved its resilience and, after a slower start to the year, regained much of the lost ground in the second six months and finished 3% up on the previous year, the majority of the volume coming from the UK, Europe and West Africa. Overall operating profits for Crestchic were up 30.5%.

Crestchic designs, manufactures, sells and hires loadbank equipment, which is primarily used for the commissioning and maintenance of independent power sources such as diesel generators and gas turbines. The need to test and maintain standby and independent power systems, together with the associated switchgear and controls, has become an increasingly important element within the power critical technology used by the banking, medical, oil and gas, marine and defence industries. This has resulted in continued strong demand for Crestchic's range of equipment and services throughout the world. Additionally Crestchic is benefiting from a background of an increasingly unreliable global power infrastructure and an increase in the size and remoteness of projects.

Tasman Oil Tools ("Tasman"), which specialises in renting drilling tools to the Australian oil and gas industry from its base in Perth, W.A., and also has depots in New South Wales, Northern Territory and Queensland also had an excellent year overall. Although the first half had been affected by several large contracts that had been delayed; these eventually got underway and were mostly completed in the second half. Rental revenue, which provides the majority of the turnover, was up by 27.3%. Substantial new investment in drilling tools has proved successful and we start 2013 in great shape with a number of large contracts continuing into the first quarter. Overall operating profits at Tasman were up 45%.

Northbridge Middle East ("NME"), which operates from the Jebel Ali Free Zone of Dubai and acts as a distributor for the full range of Crestchic's products and services throughout the Middle East and East Africa as well as trading on its own account in the rental of transformers, generators and associated electrical equipment had suffered most of all in our Group over the last 18 months, from the financial crisis, the relocation of major customers from the region and the consequent slowdown in large testing projects and delays in other contract starts. However its fortunes began to improve in the last few months of 2012 with a strong performance from its additional activity of transformer rental, coupled with a return of testing and commissioning work and some signs that the local economy is over the worst. Overall rental revenues grew by 60% compared to the quiet 2011.

Northbridge Transformers ("NT"), which was acquired from DSG NV, had a good first year's performance. NT offers specialist transformers for rental throughout the world for high and low voltages at various capacities, generally packaged in ISO containers. They can be used for both "step up" and "step down" projects. Working alongside NME, NT also provides packaged transformers for large independent power projects ("IPP") in Africa and the Middle East where diesel generators are being used to supplement national grids at high voltages in times of power shortage. Substantial further investment in this activity during the year means we have been able to grow this business from its original base in Belgium to a worldwide audience leveraging off our other depots throughout the world.

Our start-up operation in Singapore, Northbridge Industrial Services (Asia Pacific) Pte ("NAP"), whose commencement was prompted by our Dubai customer's relocation to the region and the winning of their subsequent contract, made a small profit during the year. NAP has now won several other contracts in the region and will spearhead our move into China and will provide a larger contribution to Group profits in 2013. The senior management team, which had been based in Dubai, relocated to Singapore during 2012 and from this base will manage the ongoing activities in the region.

Most of our other start-up companies and smaller subsidiaries, NLS (Singapore), Crestchic (France), RDS (Baku), TTERS (Dubai), although some of which have suffered though lack of volume during the global financial crisis; they contributed to our cash flow and losses were not material. We do expect them all to return to profit in the near future as the economy improves.

During the year the UK rental operation was able to relocate its activities into our new location in Burton on Trent adjacent to our main factory. This is a 26,000sq ft facility, with a substantial secure yard, whose freehold was acquired in March 2012 for £1.25 million (total investment of £1.7m). This move to new premises provides sufficient extra capacity for the foreseeable future.

Financial performance

The Group's consolidated revenue for the year ended 31 December 2012 was £30.8 million (2011: £24.9 million), an overall increase of 23.7%. The full year revenue contribution for the two businesses acquired at the end of 2011 was £2.2 million; and the underlying revenue (excluding the revenue generated from subsidiaries acquired in 2011) increase was 14.9%. The activity split within the revenue was 58.5% rental and 41.5% sales; this compares to 56.9% rental and 43.1% sales in 2011. Gross profits and pre-exceptional pre-tax profits were £17.6 million (2011: £14.7 million) and £4.9 million (2011: £4.6 million) respectively. Pre-tax profits increased from £2.9m in 2011 to £4.9m in 2012.

Basic earnings per share based on the average shares in issue during the period was 24.0 pence (2011: 15.1 pence). Net cash generated from operating activities amounted to £8.4 million (2011: £4.8 million), with a further £7.8 million (2011: £2.4 million) invested into the hire fleet. At the year end, stock and work in progress amounted to £2.7 million (2011: £2.5 million), the increase being largely due to increased demand for manufactured units and long lead times for some components. Total net assets at 31 December were £28.8 million (2011: £26.2) of which £21.3 million (2011: £18.2 million) was represented by the hire fleet. At 31 December the Group had net gearing, defined as the ratio of all short and long-term financial liabilities less cash held to net assets, of 44.2% (2011: 39.5%). Excluding the investment in the new freehold property, which was acquired during the year, net gearing was 39.9%.

Dividend

Based on this performance the Board is pleased to propose an increase in the final dividend for 2011 of 10.0% to 3.575 pence (2011: 3.25 pence) resulting in a total dividend for the year of 5.425 pence (2011: 5.0 pence) per share, an overall increase of 8.5% for the year. The final dividend will be paid on the 7 June 2013 to shareholders on the register on 17 May 2013, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting, to be held at 12.00 noon on 30 May 2013 at the offices of Buchanan Communications, 107 Cheapside, London EC2V 6DN.

Business review

This year has seen a "step change" in the activities undertaken by the Group, as we position ourselves to take advantage of the recovery underway in many parts of the world. Our new premises, which became operational in September, will give us a substantial increase in capacity at our manufacturing base in Burton on Trent and will enable us to grow our sales of manufactured units without further major investment in the foreseeable future. In addition it enables our rental department to organise the large worldwide projects that are still managed from the UK more effectively. We will continue to increase the awareness of the Crestchic brand of loadbanks and have recruited a senior sales and marketing manager to help us reach our goals.

Our Middle Eastern business, NME, has seen an improvement in its rental revenues following last year's material decline in demand. The introduction of a further income streams relating to transformer rental has been successful, and we are now benefiting from addition rental contracts of a longer-term nature. Our substantial investment of £3.8 million during 2012 into Northbridge Transformers' hire fleet has been spread from Europe into the Middle East and we will continue to invest in this sector in the coming years. Gross margins are slightly lower compared to our power testing activities; primarily due to the higher capital cost but same depreciation profile of transformers. However this is more than mitigated by the very much longer hire periods which gives an added element of stability to our rental streams.

Tasman, our oil tool rental business in Western Australia, had a record year, assisted by our new status as a Quality Assurance Standards Accredited supplier. This helped us win new contracts and we invested a further £2.9 million in drilling tools for our hire fleet as a result. We have now made a successful transition from an owner managed business and Ross Luck, the original vendor who has retired as managing director, continues as a non-executive director of Tasman and as a consultant to the Group.

Overall, the Group's strong growth in cash flow from operations of 75% for the year justifies our continued hire fleet investment and we expect cash flow to continue growing into the future.

Strategy

The Northbridge strategy is to acquire and consolidate specialist industrial equipment businesses. The criteria against which potential targets are assessed are:

·; Potential for expansion into complete outsourcing providers;

·; Supplying, or capable of supplying, a worldwide customer base;

·; Incorporating a strong element of rental and service work;

·; Capable of organic growth in their own right; and

·; Active in oil and gas and power related activities.

By consolidating a number of such companies Northbridge can add significant value through organic expansion into new geographical or industry markets and, by making complementary acquisitions, we can increase the Group's product offering to its international customer base.

In achieving this strategy we will be able to capitalise on the market opportunity to become a significant industrial services business serving an international market. The Board reviews this strategy periodically and believes it is still the correct one for the Group. We are actively continuing to search for suitable acquisitions.

Staff

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the employees of the Group for their contribution to our success in 2012.

Outlook

Virtually all of our markets are now showing signs of recovery and the shortfall of larger rental projects in power testing and commissioning has now eased. The first quarter of 2013 has started well with a number of large contracts continuing to run on from last year. In addition further new contracts have been won which should commence in the first half of 2013. We are still experiencing delays in the projected start dates of certain contracts, but with increased demand we are better able to manage our utilisation. Further hire fleet investment is planned for this year and we expect that our additional production capacity and additional marketing activity will lead to continued growth.

Peter Harris Eric Hook

Chairman Chief Executive

FINANCE DIRECTOR'S REPORT

Revenue and Profit before tax

During the year ended 31 December 2012 the Group continued to grow and achieved turnover of £30.8 million (2011: £24.9 million). A strong second half performance on the back of longer-term rental contracts resulted in Group rental revenue totalling 58.5% of total revenue (2011: 56.9%).

Following the acquisitions during Q4 2011, and the cross selling opportunities which resulted, operating expenditure as a percentage of turnover decreased to 39.3% from 39.6% in 2011. Profit before tax is up for the year by 6.6% to £4.9 million (2011: £4.6 million profit before tax pre exceptionals - exceptional costs of £1.7 million in 2011 included acquisition costs of £0.2m and £1.5m of impairments costs relating to certain under-utilised assets that were sold after the period end).

Earnings per share

The basic EPS figure of 24.0 pence after exceptional items (2011: 15.1 pence) and diluted EPS of 23.8 pence (2011: 14.9 pence) have been arrived at in accordance with the calculations contained in note 5.

Balance sheet and debt

The balance sheet continued to strengthen during the year and shows an increase in property, plant and equipment due to our investment into the hire fleet of £7.8 million (2011: £2.4 million) and the acquisition of the additional factory and office space at Burton on Trent of £1.7 million. Trade receivables have increased to £7.6 million (2011: £6.4 million) partly reflecting a strong trading performance in the final quarter of the financial year, the acquisitions in 2011, and the timing of the certain larger rental contracts. Cash and cash equivalents reduced to £0.5million (2011: £0.9 million). There remains the opportunity for good cash generation in the new financial year.

Borrowings increased to £13.2 million (2011: £11.2 million) with overall gearing (ratio of financial liabilities less cash held to net assets) increasing to 44.2% (2011: 39.5%). The Group cashflow from operating activities before movements in working capital was £8.9 million (2011: £6.9 million). The largest component of the difference between the profit before tax of £4.9 million and the cashflow from operating activities before movements in working capital of £8.9 million is depreciation, which at £3.1 million is significantly higher than in 2011 (£2.2 million) due to the larger hire fleet in the Group following the capital expenditure during the year and the acquisitions in 2011. Based on the Group's cashflow from operating activities there is further capacity for increased borrowings.

Cash flow

During the year, the Group generated £8.4 million of cash from operations (2011: £4.8 million), of which £5.7 million (2011: £2.4 million) was reinvested into the hire fleet. Cash conversion, measured by cash generated from operating activities before tax as a percentage of pre-exceptional profit from operations, was 154% (2011 : 99%) reflecting the robust quality of earnings and the continuing improvement in working capital management. The Group focuses closely on cash management and the repatriation of cash to the UK from its overseas subsidiaries.

During the year the Group secured additional bank borrowings giving rise to a net inflow of funds from bank and other borrowings of £0.8 million (2011: £2.8 million) which in part was used to finance business activities and the cost of acquisitions of £0.6 million (2011: £4.5million) and also the acquisition of additional factory and office space in Burton on Trent. The Group also paid out £0.8 million (2011: £0.7 million) in dividends to shareholders.

Income tax expense

The Group has an income tax expense for the year of £1.2 million (2011: £0.6 million) equating to a charge of 24.0% (2011: 19.6%) of profit before tax. The Group benefited from reduced taxation on the current year's and previous year's profits in two of its businesses following utilisation of HMRC rules on overseas subsidiaries.

Principal risks and uncertainties

The Group has continued to be successful this year but in common with any organisation the Group is subjected to a variety of risks in the conduct of its normal business operations that could have a material impact on the Group's long-term performance. The Group seeks to mitigate exposure to all forms of risk where practical and to transfer risk to insurers where cost effective. In this respect the Group maintains a range of insurance policies against major identified insurable risks, including (but not limited to) business interruption, damage to or loss of property and equipment, and employment risks. The major risks are outlined below.

Operational and commercial risks

The Group's revenues are derived from the sale and rental of specialist complementary industrial equipment and services. The Group operates in highly competitive markets across a range of sectors including oil and gas, banking, shipping, health care, utilities and power generation. There are a relatively small number of significant competitors serving the markets in which we operate. We often compete against larger capitalised companies which could pose a greater threat because of financial capability.

The Group's customer base is global and diverse and, whilst this minimises over reliance on any country or sector, the Group's revenues are dependent on global economic conditions and competitor activity, The competition for the products and services that the Group provides varies subsidiary by subsidiary and some of our products and services are subject to less market competition than others. Where there is increased competition this may result in lower pricing and margins or loss of business to competitors.

Information technology

The Group is dependent on its information technology ("IT") systems to operate its business efficiently, without failure or interruption. Whilst data within key systems is regularly backed up and systems are subject to virus protection, any systems failure or other major IT interruption could have a disruptive effect on the Group's business. The geographically diverse nature of each Group location reduces the global risk associated with IT failure or disruption at any one location.

Interest rate risk

Although the Group delegates day-to-day control of its bank accounts to local management within agreed parameters it has a centrally managed policy in relation to borrowings. Most Group borrowings and overdrafts attract variable interest rates although on occasion the Group may enter into capping arrangements for certain variable interest rate borrowings. The Board accepts that this policy of not fixing interest rates neither protects the Group entirely from the risk of paying rates in excess of current market rates nor eliminates fully cash flow risk associated with interest payments. The Board considers that it achieves an appropriate balance of exposure to these risks. The Group's bank borrowings are made up primarily of revolving facilities, finance leases, mortgage and term loans. The rate on part of the term loan total has been capped at the margin plus a maximum LIBOR rate of 2% for the remaining term of the loan. The Group also utilises short-term trade finance facilities, a temporary overdraft facility and leasing arrangements.

Foreign currency exchange risk

The Group is exposed to movements in exchange rates for both foreign currency transactions and the translation of net assets and income statements of foreign subsidiaries. As local management have responsibility for their own bank accounts, the cash at bank balance is held in Euro, US Dollar, Australian Dollar and UAE Dirham accounts. There are also outstanding balances for trade receivables, trade payables and financial liabilities in these currencies. The Board manages this risk by converting non-functional currency into Sterling as appropriate, after allowing for future similar functional currency outlays. It does not currently consider that the use of hedging facilities would provide a cost-effective benefit to the Group on an ongoing basis although a forward currency contract was used to fix part of the cash consideration paid to the vendors of DSGR on completion of the acquisition.

Credit risk

Exposure to credit risk arises principally from the Group's trade receivables which are managed through stringent credit control practices including assessing all new customers, setting credit ratings which are factored into credit decisions, regularly reviewing established customers and credit insurance where felt appropriate. At 31 December 2012 the Group had £3,648,000 (2011: £2,614,000) of trade receivables which were past due but not impaired of which £3,168,000 (2011: £2,219,000) has been collected since the year end. At 31 December 2012 trade receivables of £77,000 (2011: £15,000) were past due and are considered to be impaired due to the fact that the debts are old and due from customers in financial difficulty. During the year the Group wrote off £nil (2011: £97,000) of debts considered unrecoverable.

Craig Robinson

Finance Director

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME

For the year ended 31 December 2012

All amounts relate to continuing operations.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET

As at 31 December 2012

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN EQUITY

For the year ended 31 December 2012

For the year ended 31 December 2011

CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT

For the year ended 31 December 2012

During the period the Group acquired property, plant and hire equipment with an aggregate cost of £9,925,000 (2011: £2,961,000) of which £2,115,000 (2011: £160,000) was acquired by means of finance leases.

1. ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.1 BASIS OF PREPARATION OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

While the financial information included in the annual financial results announcement has been prepared in accordance with the recognition and measurement principles of International Financial Reporting Standards as endorsed for use in the European Union (IFRSs), this announcement does not contain sufficient information to comply with IFRSs.

The financial information set out above does not constitute the company's statutory accounts for the years ended 31 December 2012 or 2011, but is derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for the year ended 31 December 2011 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and those for the year ended 31 December 2012 will be delivered following the company's annual general meeting.

The auditors have reported on those accounts; their reports were unqualified, did not include references to any matters to which the auditors drew attention by way of emphasis without qualifying their reports.

Their report for the year end 31 December 2012 and 31 December 2011 did not contain statements under s498 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 2006.

1.2 BASIS OF CONSOLIDATION

The financial statements consolidate the accounts of Northbridge Industrial Services plc and its subsidiary undertakings.

The results of the business acquired during the year are included from the effective date of acquisition. Intercompany transactions and balances between companies are eliminated in full.

2. SEGMENT INFORMATION

The Group currently has three main reportable segments:

• Europe - this segment is involved in the manufacture, hire and sale of specialist industrial equipment. It is the largest proportion of the Group's business and generated 51% (2011: 51%) of the Group's revenue. This includes the Crestchic, NT and AIR and Crestchic France businesses;

• Middle East - this segment is involved in the hire of specialist industrial equipment and contributes 13% (2011: 18%) of the Group's revenue. This includes the NME, RDS and TTERS businesses; and

• Asia-Pacific - this segment is involved in the hire and sale of specialist industrial equipment and generated 36% (2011: 31%) of the Group's revenue. This includes the Tasman, NIS Pty and Loadcell businesses.

Factors that management used to identify the Group's reportable segments

The Group's reportable segments are strategic business units that offer different products and services which operate in different locations around the world. They are managed separately because they require different marketing and distribution strategies.

Measurement of operating segment profit or loss, assets and liabilities

The accounting policies of the operating segments are the same as those described in the summary of significant accounting policies.

The Group evaluates performance on the basis of profit or loss before tax.

Segment assets and liabilities include an aggregation of all assets and liabilities relating to businesses included within each segment. Other adjustments relate to the non-reportable head office along with consolidation adjustments which include goodwill and intangible assets. All inter-segment transactions are at arm's length.

The reconciling adjustments between the total segmental profit before tax and the profit before tax of the Group include amortisation (£583,000) and head office expenditure (£1,055,000). The reconciling adjustments the total segmental net assets to the net assets of the Group include the addition of the head office net assets and consolidation adjustments.

The reconciling adjustments between the total segmental profit before tax and the profit before tax of the Group include amortisation (£566,000), head office expenditure (£1,007,000) and an intercompany receivable credit adjustment (£728,000). The reconciling adjustments the total segmental net assets to the net assets of the Group include the addition of the head office net assets and consolidation adjustments.

3. EXCEPTIONAL COSTS

Exceptional costs incurred during the year were as follows:

(1) The exceptional costs in 2011 relate to fees incurred on the acquisition of DSG Rental NV and the assets of Loadcell Services Pte Ltd and Loadcell Services BVI. In line with IFRS 3 (revised) these costs have been disclosed in the statement of comprehensive income.

(2) In 2011 as part of the ongoing review of the Group's assets, the Board has recognised that certain rental assets have not achieved the levels of utilisation that are considered acceptable in comparison to Group activities and have been written down to their recoverable amount being their fair value less costs to sell. The recoverable value of the assets was calculated as the higher of their value in use and fair value less costs to sell. These assets were originally purchased to supply generators, transformers and ancillary equipment for the terminated rental contract to the Jabali Zinc Project in Yemen and were sold in 2012.

4. INCOME TAX EXPENSE

Factors affecting tax charge for the year

The tax assessed for the year is different to the standard rate of corporation tax in the UK (24.5%). The differences are explained below:

The standard rate of corporation tax in the UK is now 23% since 1 April 2013.

5. EARNINGS PER SHARE

At the end of the year, the Company had in issue 284,833 (2011: 178,397) share options which have not been included in the calculation of diluted EPS because their effects are anti-dilutive. These share options could be dilutive in the future.

The Directors are proposing a final dividend of 3.575 pence (2011: 3.25 pence) per share totalling £553,000 (2011: £500,000), resulting in dividends for the whole year of 5.425 pence (2011: 5.0 pence) per share. The dividend has not been accrued at the balance sheet date.