Final Results
Barr(A.G.) PLC
28 March 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 28 March, 2006
A.G.BARR p.l.c.
PRELIMINARY RESULTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED
28th January, 2006
A.G.BARR p.l.c. the soft drinks group announces its preliminary results today
for the 12 months to 28th January 2006.
Key Points
• Profit on ordinary activities before tax and exceptional items increased
by 10% to £17.9 million (2005 - £16.3 million).
• Turnover increased to £128.8 million, up 1.2% (2005 £127.2)
• An increased final dividend of 22.0p per share to give a total dividend
for the year of 31.75p per share, an increase of 10.4% over the previous
year.
• The IRN-BRU brand grew sales value by 5%. Market share gains were made
across the UK and Ireland.
• Strong new product pipeline now in place for 2006/07.
• Cash flow remaining strong with £31 million cash at bank.
• Scottish supply chain restructuring programme on target for both costs
and savings - planned to be fully complete by December 2006.
Announced separately today
• Disposal of surplus Scottish sites completed - £6.75 million
consideration.
• Plans to improve manufacturing cost profile with investment in
Cumbernauld and Mansfield manufacturing sites and the planned closure of
Atherton site by early 2007.
Commenting on the results Chairman, Robin Barr, said:
'I am delighted to report once again that our business has performed strongly,
despite the considerable challenges faced by it in line with most other consumer
goods companies. As well as delivering this excellent performance we are also
investing in both assets and brand development to ensure our future success.'
Commenting Roger White, the Chief Executive said:
'This is an excellent financial performance particularly against the backdrop of
a competitive market place, input cost inflation and considerable structural
change across much of our business operations.
We have now had four consecutive years of double digit profit growth which
represents further evidence of the consistent progress the business is making.
In the second half our strong sales execution delivered ahead of expectations.
Today we have also announced our plans to make further significant investments
in our production facilities at Cumbernauld and Mansfield at the same time as we
plan the closure of our Atherton site. On completion these changes will give us
the operating platform and cost profile to ensure that we can continue to
compete successfully in our key markets.
Sales in the first 7 weeks are 2% ahead of the same period last year'
For more information, please contact:
A.G.Barr Tel: 0141 554 1899 Buchanan Communications Tel: 020 7466 5000
Roger White, Chief Executive Tim Thomson / Nicola Cronk
Iain Greenock, Finance Director
Notes to Editors:
A.G.BARR p.l.c. is a long established soft drinks manufacturer with its head
office in Glasgow. As the country's leading independent branded carbonated soft
drinks manufacturer, the company enjoys a wide portfolio of soft drinks,
including IRN-BRU, Diet IRN-BRU, IRN-BRU 32, Findlays Water, Orangina, Tizer, D&
B and the Simply Range.
As the company's flagship brand, IRN-BRU continues to go from strength to
strength in the UK; in Scotland the brand remains firmly as the number one
grocery brand whilst in England and Wales it is steadily working to increase its
share of the carbonate market. Following its re-launch last year, Diet IRN-BRU
is performing exceptionally well, having connected with an increasing number of
calorie-conscious consumers through a fully-integrated marketing campaign.
The most important strategic product development to date from BARR is IRN-BRU
32. Created as a 'refreshing and delicious energy drink' in response to market
demand, IRN-BRU 32 is the first major extension to the IRN-BRU brand since the
launch of Diet IRN-BRU 26 years ago and represents a £3 million investment.
Utilising the main brand's secret ingredients but with the added intensity of
caffeine and taurine, the brand encourages 'Pure Mental Stimualtion' and is the
first member of the IRN-BRU range to be introduced from launch at a UK-wide
level.
Barr has also increased its adult portfolio of drinks to include:
• Orangina (a long term franchise agreement with brand owner Cadbury
Schweppes, which now includes the Snapple brand)
• Fruits and Squeeze (from the St. Clements Originals range)
• And, in response to communication with schools and parents, the Simply
range - soft drinks made from natural ingredients with no artificial
colours, flavourings and no added sugar.
Additional company strengths that BARR continues to capitalise on is its
regional brands such as D'N'B, the official soft drink to the Rugby Football
League, KA and Red Kola.
Chairman's Statement
Review of results
An excellent performance during the second six months enables me to report that
profit on ordinary activities before taxation for the year to January 2006 was -
excluding net exceptional items of £0.5 million - £17.9 million compared with
the restated figure of £16.3 million for the previous year, an increase of
10.0%. The exceptional items represent the initial part of the costs related to
the major reorganisation of our Scottish operations net of a small profit on the
sale of a property. Turnover for the year to January 2006 was £128.8 million an
increase of 1.2% over that achieved the previous year.
Basic earnings per share were 65.06p compared with 62.61p for the previous year
and, as a result, your directors are pleased to recommend a final dividend of
22.00p per share to give a total dividend for the year of 31.75p - an increase
of 10.4%.
These results represent a strong performance during a period of change both
within the UK soft drinks industry with increasing activity in the 'Good for
You' sectors and also across our own business with the current major investment
in a new infrastructure for Scotland.
People
I am pleased to have this annual opportunity on behalf of shareholders to thank
all our employees for the continuing contributions which they make towards our
Company's success.
The support of everyone across the Company is particularly important at a time
of major change across our operations.
Defined benefit pension schemes
Shareholders will have noted the substantial recent exposure in the media of
problems within other companies' defined benefit schemes and our own two schemes
share the same challenges notwithstanding their closure to new entrants.
Their total deficit at January 2006, calculated in accordance with the technical
requirements of IAS 19, was £16.2 million but would have exceeded the January
2005 calculation of £17.0 million if the company had not made a special payment
of £2.3 million in January 2006 to reduce the level of the deficit.
We currently await the formal triennial actuarial valuations for our schemes as
at 1st November 2005 which are being prepared by our pension advisors.
Subsequently your directors will agree with the trustees of the schemes both a
plan to eliminate the deficits and the appropriate level of future benefits
accruing within the schemes and the funding thereof.
Prospects
The current financial year will see the completion of our major infrastructure
project in Scotland and this, together with potential changes within our
manufacturing operations during the following year, should produce the
significant improvements in efficiencies which will enable us to compete
successfully in tomorrow's soft drinks market place.
Soft drinks continue to be a growth category in the UK but consumers are
increasingly demanding a wider range of products from which to choose. Our own
marketing and innovation plans are designed to enable us, through either
in-house development or appropriate partnership agreements, to present a
suitably balanced portfolio to the market.
We will not however in extending our portfolio lose focus on our traditional
brands and, in particular, our Irn-Bru brand which remains the core of our
operations and for which further future development can be anticipated.
Robin Barr, Chairman
Chief Executive's Statement
Investing for Growth
Financial performance
I am pleased to report that this year has seen further improvement in our
financial performance with pre tax profit, before exceptionals, up 10% from
£16.3m to £17.9m the fourth consecutive year of double-digit growth in profit
before tax.
Our total sales grew from £127.2m to £128.8m despite difficult market
conditions, reflecting our continued strategy of delivering long-term
sustainable sales growth through brand building. We maintained our efforts to
increase sales of our key brands through improved executional capabilities
rather than relying on increasing consumer promotions to drive top-line revenue.
We have once again improved our operating margins from 12.3% to 13.2%. This has
been achieved through a combination of consistent control of operating costs and
the continued improvement to our operating platform, in particular the
development of further, on-going, supply chain efficiencies. In addition to this
we increased our prices in the first half of the year in particular response to
the significant and sustained increases in our key input costs - fuel, packaging
and utilities which have all risen significantly over the course of the year.
Group cash flow was strong and we ended the year with £31.4m cash . This was
despite the 300% increase in capital investment during 2005/06. The capital
spend was in-line with our forecasts and in the main related to the
consolidation of our Scottish supply chain and selling activities into a single
site at Cumbernauld. Good progress has been made on this key project over the
second half of the year and we are on plan to meet our cost, timing and savings
targets for the project.
Strategy
We continued to execute our strategy to improve the overall long-term returns of
the business. This strategy has seen the continued focus on the development of:
- Core brands and markets
- Portfolio development
- Route to market
- Partnerships
- Efficient operations
The market
Consumers set the pace and tone of our fast moving market place, making choices
regarding both brands and products. This year has seen good growth in the total
soft drinks market; value sales increased by 5%, as measured by Nielsen.
However, on the same measurement basis the total carbonates market has been
flat. The other flavoured carbonates sector was 8% down in value over the twelve
months but has shown some signs of improvement in the second half. However, on a
regional basis the performance is somewhat different - in Scotland total
carbonates value grew by 4% and other flavoured carbonates were up by 1%. Soft
drinks in total remain a great market, although we have to ensure we are playing
in growth areas on both a product and a geographical basis.
We have raised the pace of change across the last twelve months to focus heavily
on building a sustainable portfolio of brands and products which meet consumers
changing needs.
Our conviction that value growth offers more long-term benefit than volume
remains intact. Once again, we have seen growth in the pence per litre (ppl)
achieved from our core brands. As measured by Nielsen our ppl in carbonates has
increased by 6% over the last twelve months in contrast to our main competitors
who have at best been flat. This reflects the combination of our highest ever
level of marketing spend and more efficient promotional activity across the
different channels we supply. The continued investment behind the Phenomenal
campaign for IRN-BRU on both sides of the border and the first 'above the line'
spend on Orangina for many years has resulted in consumers enjoying these
products more often - and importantly at less promotionally driven prices.
At the same time as driving organic growth across the soft drinks category we
remain ideally positioned to act swiftly should opportunities arise to grow our
business through acquisition.
Investing in infrastructure
Our well-publicised plans to consolidate our Scottish supply chain onto a single
site at our existing Cumbernauld location - representing a capital investment of
£17m - is well underway. The specific costs of this investment are now almost
fully locked down and on budget; the programme is on time and will see the site
operational and all other relevant sites, including our current HO, consolidated
before the end of 2006. The project will yield ongoing operational cost
improvements of circa £2.5m, as well as significantly improving our ability to
deliver excellent service to all customers. It will also provide a world-class
operating platform for future profitable growth.
Core brands and markets
Our success is built on understanding and satisfying consumers' needs. We have
spent more time than ever listening to what our consumers want and have reacted
quickly to their demands. Local tastes and preferences have worked strongly in
our favour across the last twelve months; we have built on our strong
traditional regional presence in Scotland, the North West and North East of
England, Yorkshire and the Midlands. We also looked increasingly towards Greater
London as a growth area with the further development of our adult soft drinks
range including Orangina, Snapple, Lipton Ice Tea and new developments in the St
Clements Originals brand.
IRN-BRU has performed very well with gains in market share in Scotland and
England. However, Diet IRN-BRU following the brand re-launch which featured
bespoke advertising and new packaging design has seen significant market share
growth of 9%.
IRN-BRU as a brand has further significant growth opportunities yet to come, not
least the extension into the energy drink market with the launch in March 2006
of IRN-BRU 32. This is the first full-scale IRN-BRU launch since Diet IRN-BRU
was launched some 26 years ago. Much planning and investment has gone into its
development. This national launch has found a great deal of support across all
our traditional customers and it is our first real opportunity to build a
sustainable presence in the on trade sector. It is planned to support the brand
with a £3m marketing campaign comprising TV, press, radio and outdoor media plus
significant sampling and point-of-sale activity. The stimulation energy drinks
sector, worth £160m a year in the UK represents a real growth opportunity for
2006.
During 2005/06 we targeted Ireland as an opportunity for growth for IRN-BRU. For
the first time, we used specific IRN-BRU TV advertising on Ulster television.
This investment, accompanied by an increase in the executional focus we
delivered through our sales agency partners across Ireland, has seen our
business grow by 15% and 13%, North and South respectively, over the last twelve
months.
We have not been immune from the difficult trading conditions in the other
flavoured carbonates market. Tizer has suffered from declining volumes,
especially in the Multiple grocery trade where we have neither matched
competitors on promotional weight or pricing nor established the appropriate
brand equity required to sustain sales growth.
Consequentially, there has been a 36% decline in Tizer volume share as measured
by Nielson, this has translated into a similar revenue decline. This highlights
the need to deliver the correct combination of great product, appropriate brand
positioning and suitable price/promotion to deliver our strategy. As a
consequence the Tizer brand will receive increased promotional support in 2006/
07 and it will be fully reviewed as we seek to deliver the correct proposition
for the future success of this brand.
We re-established our strategic commitments to the Orangina brand in May with
the signing of a new long-term franchise agreement. The on-going operational
relationship with the Schweppes team is now progressing well with the commitment
of both parties to a new value-driven long-term brand strategy for Orangina.
This commenced in the second half of the year with new TV advertising and a
promotional strategy aimed at rebuilding the premium credentials of Orangina.
The impact of this has stemmed the downward trend and we anticipate positive
progress next year.
We also looked to leverage our strength in the distinct regional markets in
which we operate by using our range of strong local brands - D'N'B; KA; Red
Kola; Returnable Glass Bottles and Barr Flavours. They are all winning locally
within specific geographical areas across the UK. When this regional portfolio
is coupled with our excellent customer service and distribution reach, it
demonstrates how we deliver local selling solutions successfully and profitably.
Portfolio development
Last year we also increased the pace of development at Barr, investing across
the total soft drinks category. We developed offerings in core carbonates
sectors and in the 'Good For You' sector, as well as in drinks aimed at adults
and drinks primarily for kids and schools.
The launch of the St Clements Originals brand, designed to carry several
products in the premium adult fruit based segment, saw sales of over 2 million
bottles of St Clements Squeeze in 2005. The St Clements Originals brand will
launch a further number of products across 2006, commencing with St Clements
Fruits in March 2006. The brand will receive full marketing support across 2006/
07 to ensure that it gains real consumer momentum across the growth area of
fruit drinks.
Difficulties faced in the supply of soft drinks to schools were well documented
in the media over the last twelve months. We responded with the redefinition and
re-launch of the Simply portfolio, which is now no added sugar. Included in this
re-launch were the additions of Simply Water, a pure spring water and Simply
Pure, a 100% fruit juice available in 200ml tetra cartons.
In addition all Simply Citrus products contain no added sugar and are now
sweetened with apple juice. Our relationships within the schools sector has
never been stronger and our new product portfolio gives us a real opportunity
for future growth.
Our portfolio development includes new products in some of the highest growth
sectors within the soft drinks category. To be successful with this innovation
requires both sales support and marketing spend. We are therefore conscious that
we must thoroughly research and develop our plans prior to committing resources
and cash to them - we have done this during the course of 2005/06 and we hope to
see the successful results in 2006/07 and beyond.
Route to market
Soft drinks success can often be benchmarked against performance in the impulse
market - accordingly we have continued to invest behind improvements in our
Impulse Route To Market (RTM). Whether in hardware, such as chillers and
merchandising units, or in executional support on the ground for the key
channels, we have continued to push investment into improving our customer and
consumer offer.
What differentiates us is delivering the category unique branded solutions,
which meet consumers' needs across many different parts of the UK. This is done
in partnership with customers and has seen our business through Cash and Carry
and direct to store grow over the year. This growth has been accompanied by the
successful integration of our high levels of customer service with an increase
in supply chain efficiency - helping to improve our margins in this competitive
market.
The most visible changes to our RTM have been in Scotland, where the closure of
sales locations at Irvine and Wishaw took place in 2005 as a precursor to the
consolidation planned throughout 2006. Our state of the art distribution
facility at Cumbernauld is scheduled for completion before the end of the 2006
calendar year, giving us the opportunity to improve service levels and the
capacity to grow our business profitably into the future.
Partnerships
The development of further successful partnerships across our business is
crucial to meeting our goals. The pace of development of new products and the
formation of discrete portfolios requires us to work successfully with others.
As already described we have made good progress with the Orangina brand. In
addition we have signed a long-term franchise agreement with Schweppes in
January 2006 to sell and market Snapple in the UK. Snapple, a still fruit based
drink, offers real scope for development as we take the brand from its current
limited distribution to a more national, but targeted, distribution level - in
particular in the premium foodservice/cafe bar sector.
We have further developed longstanding relationships with Rubicon, the
speciality juice business, and entered a selling agreement to compliment our
existing contract packing relationship with this fast growing business. The
Rubicon brand is now available to Barr customers through our direct to store
system.
The development of the Lipton Ice Tea brand by brand-owner Unilever has
continued at a pace. We have, as previously reported, simplified our
relationship with them and now focus our sales effort purely on the impulse and
foodservice channels. While this has seen some larger customers handed back to
Unilever during the last twelve months, with a consequential revenue drop, we
have seen our margins on the retained business improve.
Our international business development is dependant on effective partnerships in
each of the target markets and has gained momentum for the longer term over the
last 6 months. Our partnership with Pepsi Bottling Group (PBG) for IRN-BRU in
Russia has continued to develop - a new 6 year deal has been negotiated with
PBG. IRN-BRU is manufactured, distributed and sold throughout Russia from a base
of seven PBG factories. Sales revenue over the course of the last year was
marginally down in Russia as a consequence of local executional and operational
issues, however these issues have now been addressed by PBG and we expect the
brand to return to strong growth in 2006/07.
Further growth opportunities for IRN-BRU in Eastern Europe are now available
with the successful completion of a market trial in Poland during the last six
months. This trial with our Polish partner, Optimum, focussed on the Warsaw area
and has proved that IRN-BRU has growth potential in this market. There will be a
full launch during early 2006, which will see IRN-BRU drive to attain
significant distribution and awareness across the major urban areas of this
large country.
Further afield, IRN-BRU has attracted increasing interest in Australia. For
example in Queensland, where some targeted investment in marketing has created
momentum and sales have gone from zero to over 210,000 litres over the last
twelve months. We hope to grow more in this distant but promising market over
the course of 2006/07.
Efficient operations
Last year we invested over £12m in capital projects. £7.2m alone was spent on
the supply chain project at Cumbernauld, which will deliver very substantial
long-term efficiency benefits. We have, however, not neglected other areas of
the business, where a large number of operational projects have been concluded
to enhance our customer offering and improve our operating efficiency.
Once again, good progress was made in inventory management, with a further
reduction in stock of 10%. This reflects the enhancements to central planning
and local stock control. In the pursuit of improved efficiency we changed a
number of our logistical processes. For example, the central picking of orders
for our direct to store service in England and Wales has reduced local inventory
levels by 17% over the last twelve months.
Across our factory base we have improved our ability to manufacture
non-carbonated products and products containing higher levels of fruit juice.
Development of our asset base will continue to require capital over the coming
years as we transform our business from a traditional 'pop' business into a full
service soft drinks company with a broad portfolio of brands and products. This
investment will depend on the speed and direction of our portfolio development.
For the time being, we are employing the dual tactics of investing in our own
capability where we have the potential volumes to justify that investment - in
parallel we have started an outsourcing programme for products that do not meet
our volume hurdles or require investment in technology, which, at this stage in
the product life cycle, is not justified.
Our teams are continually seeking opportunities, both big and small, to improve
our overall operating efficiency.
People
Even through significant change, the continued commitment and efforts to improve
performance by our teams across the business has made all the difference. Once
again, the continuous improvement programmes initiated by individuals and small
teams have proved that those doing the job know how to improve performance
better than anyone else.
We have made good initial progress across the year towards our goal of linking
individual performance to reward and improving personal development planning. It
is aimed to roll the processes we have developed out across the wider business
over time.
The importance of training and development in improving performance was
reinforced by our increased investment in our commercial teams; they have been
involved in our first full commercial skills development programme which saw a
complete range of specific training and development modules rolled out across
the year.
The accelerated level of change in the business requires support for
individuals, teams and whole sites. This challenge has been met by the increased
level and quality of communication throughout the entire company - and will
continue to be a key area of focus as we progress.
Outlook
The investments we are making across the business are addressing the changes we
are experiencing and anticipate in our market. Consumers will continue to value
and enjoy our great products and brands, but in order to grow we must offer a
wider and more diverse portfolio. We must continue to invest in both our brands
and the growth of our portfolio; to do this we must deliver the operating
efficiency gains we have planned. 2006/07 will be a tough year of considerable
change throughout our business, but we will be all the stronger from our
efforts. Our programme of change will ensure that we are fit to match the
long-term challenges of our competitive but growing market.
Roger White, Chief Executive
A.G.BARR p.l.c.
Consolidated Income statement
for the year ended 28th January, 2006
The following are the unaudited results for the year to 28th January, 2006. The
Board recommends the payment of a final dividend of 22.00p per share which if
approved by the shareholders will be posted on 7th June, 2006. The total
distribution proposed for the year amounts to 31.75p per share (2005 -28.75p)
Consolidated Income Statement
Group
Restated
2006 2005
£000 £000
Revenue 128,760 127,222
Cost of sales 63,398 63,729
Gross profit 65,362 63,493
Net operating expenses 48,422 47,864
Operating profit before exceptional 16,940 15,629
items
Exceptional items 533 -
Operating profit 16,407 15,629
Finance income 1,557 1,288
Finance costs (583) (630)
Profit on ordinary activities before tax 17,381 16,287
Tax on profit on ordinary activities 5,128 4,585
Profit attributable to equity 12,253 11,702
shareholders
Dividend per share paid 29.25 p 26.25 p
Dividend paid (£'000) 5,628 5,108
Dividend per share proposed 22.00 p 19.50 p
Dividend proposed (£'000) 4,280 3,795
Basic earnings per share 65.06 p 62.61 p
Fully diluted earnings per share 63.87 p 60.73 p
Record date: 5th May, 2006
Ex-div date : 3rd May, 2006
The financial information set out in this announcement does not constitute
statutory accounts. The financial information for the year ended 29th January,
2005 is derived from the statutory accounts for that year which have been
delivered to the Registrar of Companies. The auditors have reported on those
accounts and their report was unqualified and did not contain a statement under
S237 Companies Act 1985. This financial information has been restated in
accordance with IFRS.
A.G.BARR p.l.c.
Statements of Recognised Income and Expense
for the year ended 28th January, 2006
Group Company
Restated Restated
2006 2005 2006 2005
£000 £000 £000 £000
Actuarial (cost) / gain
recognised on (2,235) 476 (2,235) 476
defined benefit pension
schemes
Deferred tax relating to
defined 671 (143) 671 (143)
benefit pension plan
Net income recognised directly
in equity (1,564) 333 (1,564) 333
Profit for the period 12,253 11,702 11,913 11,625
Total recognised income and
expense for the period 10,689 12,035 10,349 11,958
Attributable to equity 10,689 12,035 10,349 11,958
shareholders
A.G.BARR p.l.c.
Balance sheets
As at 28th January, 2006
Group Company
Restated Restated
2006 2005 2006 2005
£000 £000 £000 £000
Non-current assets
Property, plant and 34,932 37,315 34,031 36,794
equipment
Investment in subsidiaries - - 205 205
Deferred tax assets 5,777 5,600 5,777 5,600
40,709 42,915 40,013 42,599
Current assets
Inventories 8,274 9,172 8,188 9,069
Trade and other 29,546 20,991 29,208 20,405
receivables
Cash at bank 31,412 34,958 31,300 34,796
Assets classified as held
for sale 937 - 937 -
70,169 65,121 69,633 64,270
Total assets 110,878 108,036 109,646 106,869
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables 22,083 22,166 22,630 22,370
Current tax 1,962 2,550 1,880 2,530
24,045 24,716 24,510 24,900
Non-current liabilities
Deferred income 611 619 611 619
Deferred tax liabilities 5,030 4,975 5,009 4,960
Retirement benefit
obligations 16,248 17,044 16,248 17,044
21,889 22,638 21,868 22,623
Capital and reserves attributable to
equity shareholders
Called up share capital 4,865 4,865 4,865 4,865
Share premium account 905 905 905 905
Own shares held (4,298) (3,100) (4,298) (3,100)
Share options reserve 1,416 826 1,416 826
Retained earnings 62,056 57,186 60,380 55,850
64,944 60,682 63,268 59,346
Total equity and 110,878 108,036 109,646 106,869
liabilities
A.G.BARR p.l.c.
Cash flow statements
As at 28th January, 2006
Group Company
Restated Restated
2006 2005 2006 2005
£000 £000 £000 £000
Operating activities
Profit on ordinary activities
before tax 17,381 16,287 16,953 16,186
Adjustments for
Interest receivable (1,557) (1,288) (1,550) (1,288)
Interest payable 583 630 583 630
Depreciation of property,
plant and equipment 5,756 5,559 5,486 5,390
Share options costs 299 295 299 295
Gain on sale of property,
plant and equipment (215) (17) (215) (17)
Government grants written
back (8) (9) (8) (9)
Operating cash flows before
movements in working capital 22,239 21,457 21,548 21,187
Decrease in inventories 898 1,246 881 1,216
Increase in receivables (1,473) (756) (1,585) (576)
Increase in payables 255 200 890 52
Decrease in retirement
benefit obligations (3,031) (565) (3,031) (565)
Cash generated by operations 18,888 21,582 18,703 21,314
Tax on profit paid (4,876) (4,433) (4,856) (4,394)
Net cash from operating
activities 14,012 17,149 13,847 16,920
Investing activities
Proceeds on sale of property,
plant and equipment 514 215 470 172
Purchase of property, plant
and equipment (12,029) (2,959) (11,763) (2,753)
Interest received 1,557 1,288 1,550 1,288
Interest paid (583) (630) (583) (630)
Net cash used in investing
activities (10,541) (2,086) (10,326) (1,923)
Financing activities
Purchase of own shares (3,149) (390) (3,149) (390)
Sale of own shares 1,760 473 1,760 473
Dividends paid (5,628) (5,108) (5,628) (5,108)
Net cash used in financing
activities (7,017) (5,025) (7,017) (5,025)
Net (decrease) / increase in
cash (3,546) 10,038 (3,496) 9,972
Cash at beginning of period 34,958 24,920 34,796 24,824
Cash at end of period 31,412 34,958 31,300 34,796
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange