Final Results
Acal PLC
07 June 2004
FOR RELEASE 7:00 AM 7 JUNE 2004
ACAL plc
(Leading pan-European, value added distributor providing specialist design-in,
sales and marketing services for international suppliers)
Announcement of Preliminary Results for the Year Ended 31 March 2004
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:- 2004 2003 Change
Turnover £268.9m £272.1m -1.2%
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
EBITA (pre associated companies) £14.2m £16.7m -15.0%
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
Profit before tax:-
Before goodwill amortisation and loss/profit £12.7m £15.6m -18.6%
on termination/sale of operations
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
After goodwill amortisation and loss/profit £9.2m £13.4m -31.3%
on termination/sale of operations
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
Earnings per share:-
Before goodwill amortisation and loss/profit 31.8p 39.1p -18.7%
on termination/sale of operations
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
After goodwill amortisation and loss/profit 18.4p 30.7p -40.1%
on termination/sale of operations
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
Dividends per share 21.0p 20.1p +4.5%
----------------------------- --------- -------- --------
• UK profits maintained year-on-year
• Continuing strong gross margin performance
• Dividend growth continued
• CPI, acquired in May 2003, performing in line with expectations
• Major supplier wins
• Action taken to close loss-making IT Parts subsidiary in Netherlands
• Growing geographic coverage in Eastern Europe and Iberia, and through
Associate in Asia
Continued...
Commenting on the results John Curry, Chairman said:-
"The Group has continued to produce a good return on trading assets despite the
difficult economic climate which has persisted during the year.
The outlook is starting to look less difficult, with signs that economic
activity has picked up in the US and Asia, and that this is spreading to Western
Europe."
For further information:-
John Curry - Chairman Tel: 01483 544500
Jim Virdee - Finance Director Tel: 01483 544500
Brian Coleman-Smith - Beattie Financial Tel: 020 7398 3300
Notes to Editors:-
1 The Acal Group is a leading European, value-added distributor providing
specialist design-in, sales and marketing services for international
suppliers in the fields of Electronic Components, IT Products, IT
Parts Services and Industrial Controls. Its value-added philosophy and
geographic coverage enables Acal to provide specialist knowledge and support
to customers on a pan-European basis.
2 Design-in is the process by which Acal's sales engineers work with customers
and suppliers to procure components which meet the specific technical and
performance needs of the customers.
3 Acal has operating companies in the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany,
France, Italy, Spain, Scandinavia and the USA. Westech Electronics, an
associated company, is based in Singapore and covers the Far East region.
CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT
Overview of Results
The Group has continued to produce a good return on trading assets in spite of a
decline in sales and profits in the difficult economic climate which has
persisted. The year's sales fell to £269m from £272m - excluding last year's
disposal and this year's acquisition, the fall in sales was just over 1% in
sterling terms. This produced operating profit before goodwill and associated
companies of £14.2m compared to £16.7m - a reduction of 15%. The shortfall was
in Continental Europe as profit was maintained in the UK on a like-for-like
basis.
Although sales fell by 1% in sterling terms, underlying overheads increased by
4% in sterling terms. However, if we take out the effect of changes in exchange
rates sales would be 4% down and overheads would show a marginal increase as
detailed in the Financial Review.
Though we generally controlled overheads, we were probably not aggressive enough
in cutting costs when our expectation of demand was not achieved in some of our
Continental European companies. However, we continue to show improvements in
gross margin by focussing on our added value business and because of the sale of
a lower margin business and purchase of a higher margin business; gross margin
this year has improved from 24.8% to 25.9%.
Profit before goodwill amortisation and exceptionals was £12.7m (2003: £15.6m).
This reflects the fall in operating profit of £2.5m described above, and an
increase in interest of £0.4m (largely due to FRS 17). With taxation at 34.1%
this has translated into earnings per share before goodwill amortisation and
exceptionals of 31.8p per share (2003: 39.1p per share).
A more detailed analysis of the results is set out in the Operations and
Financial Reviews.
Dividend
The Board is recommending a final dividend per share of 14p net per share (2003:
13.4p), making a total of 21p (2003: 20.1p) for the year. This is an increase of
4.5% on last year and continues ahead of inflation reflecting our confidence in
the future. We have continued growth in dividends even though profits are down,
as we believe that dividends are an important part of shareholder return.
Strategy
Acal remains a technology distribution group focussed on Electronic and
Industrial Components, IT Products and IT Parts Services. The IT divisions now
account for over 50% of our sales and profits.
Geographically, our roots are in Western Europe, but in the last decade we have
extended our long-term global view with investments in the Far East, and more
recently partnerships in Eastern Europe. These areas in time will become
materially important to the Group.
Corporate Governance
This year we are reporting a year earlier than we need on how we are meeting the
provisions of the revised Combined Code on Corporate Governance issued by the
Financial Reporting Council, for which we were already well positioned.
We continue to strive for the highest standards of corporate governance, but to
formalise and communicate procedures and have them reported on by auditors is
expensive and time consuming for key executives. Nevertheless, we aim to achieve
the standards our shareholders expect and we expect of ourselves without
forgetting that the creation of wealth is also high on our shareholders' list of
priorities.
Board Composition
We were pleased to welcome Graham Williams who joined the Board as a
Non-executive Director in December 2003 and has already made a valuable
contribution. David Channing-Williams retired from the Board at the end of the
financial year and we thank him for his contribution during the five years he
served.
The Nominations Committee has looked closely at those directors due for
re-election and following an appraisal process and performance review of the
Board, I am pleased to recommend Graham Williams for election following his
appointment last year. Though Rhys Williams has reached the age of 70 and has
served ten years on the Board, your Board feel that he has retained his
independence. Furthermore, it would not be in the shareholders' best interest to
lose his wise counsel, judgement and constructive criticism and therefore I am
pleased to recommend his re-election. The Board under the leadership of the
Senior Independent Director carried out an appraisal of me, as Chairman, and has
approved my standing for re-election.
Employees
We have had another tough year, and the Board is grateful for the hard work and
loyalty of our team. It is at times like these you appreciate the efforts of
your colleagues who continue to give of their best and go the extra mile.
Prospects
The outlook is starting to look less difficult, with order growth in the
component business and signs that economic activity has picked up in the U.S.
and Asia and that this is spreading to Western Europe. However, there are still
three areas of concern - global terrorism remains a serious risk, and the major
changes and uncertainties in currency markets are not conducive to positive
investment decisions. Finally, the long period of low interest rates is likely
to be over, and there is risk of inflation and high oil prices, inhibiting
growth which has shown some signs of pick up.
Nevertheless, we feel that after a long period of reducing sales we should see
some progress in the second half of this year because year-on-year order decline
ceased six months ago and there are signs of year-on-year order growth - though
at times rather patchy. This coupled to some key supplier wins in the last
twelve months should provide the growth necessary to produce improving results.
John Curry
7 June 2004
OPERATIONS REVIEW 2004
In the difficult environment of the past year, Electronic Components and
Industrial Controls have maintained profits with a shortfall in the IT
divisions. In spite of pressure, gross margins have been maintained or improved
in all divisions and increased by more than 1% overall from 24.8% to 25.9%,
which in part compensates for the lower level of sales. As yet we have only
limited evidence of product shortages and consequential price increases,
although we do expect this to be more pronounced later this year, essentially in
the Electronic Components Division.
We have seen some improvement in the last six months in order levels and
book-to-bill ratios. However, monthly order and sales figures have varied
considerably which reflects the uncertainty in our customers' markets,
particularly in Continental Europe.
During the year we managed costs tightly but with hindsight not sufficiently
vigorously in some of the Continental European operations. Whilst we remain
committed to our investment in people and our IT systems, which are critical for
the provision of service and support levels to both suppliers and customers, we
continue to work to ensure the right balance.
Electronic Components
The Electronic Components activities of the Group maintained EBITA (Earnings
before interest, taxation and amortisation of goodwill) at £3.4m despite a small
decrease in overall sales, from £93.3m to £91.9m. Maintaining this performance
was entirely due to the UK businesses where gross margin improvements and
effective cost reductions, coupled with the UK critical mass, enabled an
important overall improvement. As has been stated previously, the UK has been
somewhat ahead of Continental Europe in the recovery cycle and whilst the second
half improvement is only slight, it has now begun.
During the year the rationalisation of the distribution channels of our
suppliers has continued and we have been able to take on new complementary
suppliers and extend our geographical coverage with others.
We have also taken advantage of the increase in available business in markets
which are showing growth, particularly in the areas of defence, aerospace and
security. Whilst the telecoms market, which has the potential to be, and was
historically our largest market, is not yet exhibiting significant growth, we
have been able to secure key supplier status with three of Europe's major
telecoms infrastructure companies. With one we are their first distributor and
with another their only distributor. The agreements with these companies cover
many products and allow our customers to be able to rely on Acal for
establishing and maintaining local supply, buffer inventory and guaranteed
delivery lead times, plus forecast demand patterns for our suppliers. This
support extends not only to European manufacturing locations but also to those
used by our customers as far afield as China and South America and clearly
demonstrates the additional value that a specialised distributor can provide to
both the customer's supply chain and the manufacturers we represent.
Early in the year we established a series of relationships in Eastern Europe
which extends our Pan-European coverage to important new markets for many of our
existing suppliers and in February we formed a new business in Madrid to
concentrate on the Spanish and Portuguese markets.
Industrial Controls
Although sales were virtually unchanged in sterling terms, EBITA grew 27% from
£1.1m to £1.4m.
The highlights of the year have been two-fold - the growth of sales in Asia
Pacific, an area in which we have been investing for the past three years, and a
major sales success with a manufacturer of refrigeration units for marine
containers. These sales are predominantly of electric proportional valves which
provide superior refrigerant flow and close control of temperature with
resulting benefits for the food supply industry worldwide.
The medical instrumentation business also had another successful year with an
increase in EBITA.
IT Products
Sales in our IT Products Division have grown 5% from £94.5m (excluding the Cisco
business which was sold in the prior year) to £99.2m. EBITA has reduced 35% from
£6.9m to £4.5m. This reduction was largely as a result of the smallest of our IT
activities, that of networking, security and computer components, which had a
torrid year including £0.5m of bad debts. Following a critical analysis we are
focusing on added value, have merged this activity with the successful Acal
Value Added Services business and are now working towards adding complementary
product lines which we need.
Headway, our document management and imaging business, experienced similar sales
year-on-year with a very small reduction in EBITA. This reduction was all in the
first half of the year and we have seen recovery across all geographies in the
second half, although there remains scope for further improvement in the year
ahead.
Major achievements in the year included the supply of some 260 document scanners
to Deutsche Telekom in Germany, and 400 into the French Government employment
agency. In the UK major projects included the supply of product and services
into Northern Rock, Abbey National, Lloyds Registrars and the NHS among others.
Acal Storage Networking ("ASN"), previously known as Fibre Channel Solutions has
again been one of Acal's successes with a further increase in sales and EBITA.
The business continues to be centred on the UK and Germany and illustrates well
the benefits of the focused and qualified Acal team who provide all the
necessary pre and post sales technical support to the EMEA-wide customer base
which now involves sales to 48 countries.
Key customers for ASN's products and services are the major OEMs, particularly
EMC and Storagetek. The major markets in the year have been those of
telecommunications and banking, however the wider acceptance of ASN's technology
means that growth is not limited to these sectors alone.
IT Parts Services
This division had sales growth of 5% from £56.1m to £59.1m and an EBITA
reduction of 8% from £5.3m to £4.9m. Computer Parts International ("CPI"), the
business we bought in May 2003, performed in line with expectations producing
sales of £9.8m and EBITA of £1.2m. However, the other parts of the division
showed a decline year-on-year with losses being made in France and Netherlands
and ATM moving to a lower and more sustainable gross margin. As a consequence,
the French business has been considerably downsized, and with the reduced
potential in the Netherlands that operation is being closed. The costs of
closure are £600,000 and have been charged in the year's profit and loss
account.
Although the results for the year have been disappointing, there have been a
number of positive achievements which enable us to expect profitable growth in
the year ahead. These include the expansion of our relationship with Lexmark,
where we are now responsible for warranty management of all Lexmark's sales in
Germany, and are beginning to work with their service partners in France. This
is shortly to be followed by an extension into Eastern Europe.
Unisys have expanded their business with EAF in the UK to the newly acquired
CPI, and this will also extend to France and Germany.
Finally, a new 'branding initiative' has been established to market the
companies under the Acal IT Parts Services banner in recognition of the fact
that an increasing number of customers are working with each of the companies in
this division - EAF, ATM and CPI.
Acal IT Systems
The extension of the ERP system has continued throughout the year with just one
further major country implementation to come. We now have a stable, resilient,
scaleable platform on which to build further enhancements for the benefit of our
customers and suppliers.
Tony Laughton
7 June 2004
FINANCIAL REVIEW
Results for the Year
The table below shows the performance of Acal's divisions in each of the years
ended 31 March 2004 and 2003:-
2004 2003
SALES EBITA* SALES EBITA*
£M as % of £M as % of £M as % of £M as % of
Group Sales Group Sales
Electronic
Components 91.9 34% 3.4 3.7% 93.3 34% 3.4 3.7%
Industrial
Controls 18.7 7% 1.4 7.5% 18.9 7% 1.1 5.8%
----- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------- ----- ------
Components
TOTAL 110.6 41% 4.8 4.3% 112.2 41% 4.5 4.0%
----- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------- ----- ------
IT 99.2 37% 4.5 4.6% 103.8 38% 6.9 6.6%
Products
IT Parts
Services 59.1 22% 4.9 8.2% 56.1 21% 5.3 9.4%
----- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------- ----- ------
IT TOTAL 158.3 59% 9.4 5.9% 159.9 59% 12.2 7.6%
----- ------ ----- ------ ----- ------- ----- ------
268.9 100% 14.2 5.3% 272.1 100% 16.7 6.1%
===== ====== ===== ====== ===== ======= ===== ======
(*EBITA being calculated as operating profit excluding goodwill amortisation and
the Group's share of associated undertakings.)
The relative contribution to sales of the Group's Components and IT businesses
remained unchanged from last year at 41% and 59% respectively.
During the year sterling has, on average, been approximately 7% weaker as
compared to the Euro and approximately 10% stronger as compared to the US
Dollar. The table below shows the effect of exchange rate movements as well as
acquisitions and disposals on the Group's sales during the year.
SALES
£m Change
Year ended 31 March 2003 272.1
Net effect of Acquisitions/Disposals 0.5
Effect of exchange rate movements 8.2 +3%
Underlying change -11.9 -4%
------- -------
Year ended 31 March 2004 268.9 -1%
======= =======
The global economic downturn of the last three years has affected the
profitability of the Group's businesses in Continental Europe more severely than
those in the UK. Accordingly, exchange rates had no material effect on the
Group's profits.
The benefits of Acal's focus on value-added distribution have continued to show
in the gross margins being achieved. Overall gross margin strengthened to 25.9%
as compared to 24.8% in the previous year. Each of the Group's four divisions
has contributed to this achievement by improving or maintaining its gross
margin.
Group companies have contained overheads at similar levels as the prior year (at
constant exchange rates) whilst endeavouring to ensure that Acal's long-term
growth strategy and "design-in" efforts are not adversely affected by any
cost-saving measures adopted. The table below shows the change in net operating
expenses (excluding goodwill amortisation).
Net Operating Expenses
(excluding goodwill amortisation)
£m Change
Year ended 31 March 2003 50.9
Net effect of Acquisitions/Disposals 2.7 +5.3%
Effect of exchange rate movements 1.6 +3.1%
Underlying change 0.2 +0.4%
------ -------
Year ended 31 March 2004 55.4 +8.8%
====== =======
Westech is our main associated company and distributes electronic components in
the Far East. It has continued to develop its geographic coverage of the Far
East and to grow its product portfolio and has seen sales growth in recent
months. The contribution of associated companies to Group operating profit at
£0.4m was similar to that in the prior year.
The charge for goodwill amortisation increased from £2.8m last year to £2.9m
this year as a result of the acquisition of CPI.
In March 2004, we announced the closure of the IT Parts Services business in the
Netherlands. The estimated costs of this closure are £600,000 and have been
charged in the profit and loss account for the year ended 31 March 2004. The
previous year had benefited from a profit of £575,000 on the sale of the Group's
Cisco Distribution Business.
Net interest cost (before FRS 17 financing cost of £0.3m) at £1.6m was similar
to that in the previous year (when there was no FRS 17 financing cost) and was
covered 9 times (2003: 10 times) by operating profit before goodwill
amortisation.
The Group's effective tax rate for the year ended 31 March 2004, based on profit
before taxation and amortisation of goodwill was 34.1% as compared to 33.2% in
the previous year.
The interim and proposed final ordinary dividends for the year will absorb £5.5m
and are covered 1.4 times by attributable profit before amortisation of
goodwill.
Pensions
It has always been Acal's policy that all its pension schemes should be of the
defined contribution type so that the extent of the Group's financial
obligations can be clearly ascertained. However, when Sedgemoor Limited, then a
listed public company, was acquired in June 1999, it brought with it certain
defined benefit schemes, the principal one of which is the Sedgemoor Group
Pension Fund ("the Sedgemoor Scheme"). Soon after the acquisition the Sedgemoor
Scheme was curtailed and all future service accrual ceased.
Last year we adopted FRS 17 relating to pension schemes. The effect in respect
of the Sedgemoor Scheme was that a net pension liability of £5.9m was recognised
in the financial statements. The net liability at 31 March 2004 was lower, at
£4.8m, reflecting primarily the appreciation of investments as a result of
stronger stock markets and contributions made.
Working Capital and Balance Sheet
Considerable emphasis is placed on managing the Group's balance sheet,
particularly in times of economic downturn. Acal has a model for this process
which is based on comparing each item of trading assets to the three-month
moving average of sales (TMMA). The table below shows the model and how the
actual position compared with the model. For example, it shows that our target
for stock is that it should represent 1.2 months of sales whereas the actual
level of stock at 31 March, both in 2004 and 2003, represented 1.1 months of
sales.
Target Model 31 March 2004 31 March 2003
TMMA Ratio TMMA Ratio TMMA Ratio
Trading Fixed Assets 0.5 0.6 0.6
Current Assets:-
Stock 1.2 1.1 1.1
Debtors 2.3 2.1 2.3
Current Liabilities:-
Creditors (2.2) (2.1) (2.3)
Tax (0.2) (0.1) (0.1)
------ ------- ------
TOTAL Trading Assets 1.6 1.6 1.6
====== ======= ======
(Note: This trading assets model excludes goodwill, investments, net debt/cash
and long-term liabilities)
The Group's operating companies have continued to build upon their success in
managing stock during the economic downturn with the overall level coming down
to £23.6m at 31 March 2004 (including stock acquired with CPI) compared with
£24.4m the year before and a peak level of £40m in May 2001. This success has
been achieved without the need for any exceptional provision or write-off.
Return on average capital employed (which is calculated using operating profit
before goodwill amortisation, and net assets excluding goodwill and adding back
net debt) was 38% compared to 43% last year. We believe that this was a
satisfactory performance in a period of economic downturn.
Capital expenditure for the year was £3.7m (2003: £3.9m) representing a return
to more normal levels after the higher expenditure of a few years ago on the
Group's new ERP system. The programme implementing the new system is now nearing
completion.
Shareholders' funds at 31 March 2004 were £67.7m, after goodwill amortisation of
£2.9m (2003: £2.8m), compared to £68.0m a year before, and net debt at 31 March
2004 was £15.2m (22.5% of shareholder funds) as compared to £13.4m (19.7% of
shareholder funds) a year earlier. This is after expenditure of £6m on the
acquisition of CPI in May 2003.
Jim Virdee
7 June 2004
ACAL plc
Audited Consolidated Profit and Loss Account
for the Year ended 31 March 2004
Year ended 31 March
----------------------------------
2004 2003
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ongoing Terminated Acquisition Total
Activities Operation
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Turnover Note 2.
Ongoing
activities 256,423 - - 256,423 256,511
Operations
terminated/
sold - 2,703 - 2,703 15,630
Acquisition - - 9,794 9,794 -
_____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________
256,423 2,703 9,794 268,920 272,141
============ ============ ============ ============ ============
Operating
Profit
Excluding
goodwill
amortisation 13,068 (131) 1,246 14,183 16,710
Goodwill
amortisation (2,730) - (195) (2,925) (2,774)
_____________ _____________ _____________ _____________ _____________
Group
Operating
Profit
(excluding
Associates) 10,338 (131) 1,051 11,258 13,936
Group Share
of Operating
Profits of 430 - - 430 440
Associates
Total
Operating
Profit
(including
Associates)
------- ------- -------- ------- -------
Excluding
goodwill
amortisation 13,500 (131) 1,246 14,615 17,152
Goodwill
amortisation (2,732) - (195) (2,927) (2,776)
------- ------- -------- ------- -------
10,768 (131) 1,051 11,688 14,376
(Loss)/Profit
on termination/
sale of - (600) - (600) 575
operations
Net interest
payable and
similar
charges -
group (1,606) 12 (259) (1,853) (1,452)
Net interest
payable -
associates (42) - - (42) (108)
Profit before
Taxation
------- ------- -------- ------- -------
Excluding
goodwill
amortisation 11,852 (719) 987 12,120 16,167
Goodwill
amortisation (2,732) - (195) (2,927) (2,776)
------- ------- -------- ------- -------
Profit on
Ordinary
Activities
before
Taxation 9,120 (719) 792 9,193 13,391
Tax on Profit
on Ordinary ------- -------
Activities
United (3,792) (3,400)
Kingdom
Overseas (200) (1,889)
Associates (146) (73)
------- -------
(4,138) (5,362)
_____________ _____________
Profit after
Taxation
Excluding
goodwill
amortisation 7,982 10,805
Goodwill
amortisation (2,927) (2,776)
------- -------
Profit on
Ordinary
Activities
after 5,055 8,029
Taxation
Minority
interest (206) -
_____________ _____________
Profit
Attributable
to Ordinary
Shareholders 4,849 8,029
Dividends on
Ordinary
Shares (5,548) (5,262)
_____________ _____________
Retained
(Loss)/
Profit (699) 2,767
for the Year
============ ============
Earnings per
Share 18.4p 30.7p
============ ============
Diluted
Earnings per
Share 18.4p 30.6p
============ ============
Earnings per
Share
Excluding
Goodwill
Amortisation 29.6p 41.3p
============ ============
Earnings per
Share
Excluding
Goodwill 31.8p 39.1p
Amortisation
and loss/
profit on
termination/
sale of
operations
============ ============
Dividends per
share 21.0p 20.1p
============ ============
The results for the year and prior year relate wholly to continuing operations
ACAL plc
Audited Consolidated Balance Sheet
as at 31 March 2004
At 31 March
2004 2003
£'000 £'000
FIXED ASSETS
Intangible assets 46,859 46,287
Tangible assets 14,101 13,827
Investments 6,429 6,028
--------- ---------
67,389 66,142
--------- ---------
CURRENT ASSETS
Stocks 23,610 24,443
Debtors 50,779 53,242
Cash at bank and in hand 10,828 20,246
--------- ---------
85,217 97,931
CREDITORS:
Amounts falling due within one year (57,644) (65,413)
--------- ---------
NET CURRENT ASSETS 27,573 32,518
--------- ---------
TOTAL ASSETS LESS 94,962 98,660
CURRENT LIABILITIES
CREDITORS:
Amounts falling due after more than one year (20,341) (22,487)
--------- ---------
PROVISIONS FOR LIABILITIES (1,256) (2,279)
AND CHARGES
--------- ---------
NET ASSETS - excluding pension liability 73,365 73,894
Net pension liability (4,816) (5,931)
--------- ---------
NET ASSETS - including pension liability 68,549 67,963
========= =========
CAPITAL AND RESERVES
Called up share capital 1,318 1,309
Share premium account 37,805 37,109
Revaluation reserve 323 334
Profit and loss account and other reserves 28,230 29,211
--------- ---------
EQUITY SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS 67,676 67,963
Minority interest 873 -
--------- ---------
TOTAL CAPITAL EMPLOYED 68,549 67,963
========= =========
ACAL plc
Audited Summary Cash flow Statement for
the Year ended 31 March 2004
Year ended 31 March
2004 2003
£'000 £'000
OPERATING ACTIVITIES
Operating profit 11,258 13,936
Depreciation and other non cash items 6,348 6,146
Decrease in working capital 2,216 3,492
-------- --------
NET CASH INFLOW FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES 19,822 23,574
Dividends from associated undertakings 54 82
Net interest paid (1,853) (1,527)
Tax paid (4,921) (7,250)
Net expenditure on tangible fixed assets and
investments (3,857) (4,869)
Net cash flow from acquisitions and disposals (6,272) (3,920)
Equity dividends paid (5,365) (4,935)
-------- --------
NET CASH (OUTFLOW)/INFLOW BEFORE FINANCING (2,392) 1,155
(Decrease)/increase in debt and finance leases (3,811) 6,570
Issue of share capital 705 328
-------- --------
NET (DECREASE)/ INCREASE IN CASH (5,498) 8,053
======== ========
Reconciliation of net cash flow to movements in net debt
NET (DECREASE)/ INCREASE IN CASH (5,498) 8,053
-------- --------
Cash outflow/(inflow) from decrease/(increase)
in debt and lease financing 3,811 (6,570)
Issue of loan notes - (1,616)
Debt acquired with subsidiary
New finance
leases - (257)
Translation differences - (13)
(133) (123)
-------- --------
MOVEMENT IN NET DEBT (1,820) (526)
Net debt at beginning of the period (13,404) (12,878)
-------- --------
Net debt at end of the period (15,224) (13,404)
======== ========
Consolidated Statement of
Total Recognised Gains and Losses
Year ended 31 March
2004 2003
£'000 £'000
Profit attributable to shareholders 4,849 8,029
Actuarial gain/(loss) on pension scheme 1,212 (7,150)
Deferred tax relating to pension scheme (478) 1,911
Net (loss)/gain on currency translation (1,027) 1,646
--------- --------
Total recognised gains and losses for the financial period 4,556 4,436
========= ========
Notes:-
1 The preliminary results were approved by the Board on 7 June 2004. The
financial information set out above does not constitute the Company's
statutory accounts for the year ended 31 March 2004 or 2003, but is
derived from those accounts. Statutory accounts for 2003 have been delivered
to the Registrar of Companies whereas those for 2004 will be delivered
following the Company's Annual General Meeting. The auditors have reported on
those accounts; their reports were unqualified and did not contain a
statement under section 237 (2) or (3) of the Companies Act 1985.
2 EAF Nederland BV is in the final stages of being closed, the closure having
been announced on 29 March 2004. The results of this operation are shown
under "Terminated Operation". Turnover of EAF Nederland BV and the Group's
Cisco distribution business, which was sold in October 2002, has been shown
under "Operations terminated/sold".
3 These preliminary results have been prepared in accordance with the
accounting policies normally adopted by the Company.
4 The final dividend is payable on 26 July 2004 to shareholders on the register
on 18 June 2004.
5 Earnings per share for the year to 31 March 2004 have been calculated on the
profit attributable to ordinary shareholders of £4,849,000 using the weighted
average number of ordinary shares in issue during the period.
6 The Annual Report and Accounts will be mailed to shareholders on or before
25 June 2004. Copies will also be available from: -
Acal plc
2 Chancellor Court
Occam Road
Surrey Research Park
Guildford GU2 7AH
The results will not be advertised in any newspaper
Ends
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