Interim Management Statement

RNS Number : 6978M

DCC PLC

18 July 2014

 



18 July 2014

DCC plc

Interim Management Statement

Trading In Line with Expectations

DCC plc, the international sales, marketing, distribution and business support services group, is issuing this Interim Management Statement in accordance with the reporting requirements of the Transparency Regulations 2007 in advance of the Company's AGM to be held in Dublin at 11.00 am today. 

First Quarter ended 30 June 2014

Overall trading for the first quarter to 30 June 2014 has been in line with budget.  

DCC Energy, the Group's largest division, traded broadly in line with budget but, as anticipated, behind last year, which had the benefit of colder than normal weather conditions in the first quarter. 

Trading in DCC Technology, the Group's second largest division, was in line with budget and ahead of last year, principally reflecting continued sales growth in IT and communications products.

DCC Healthcare performed ahead of budget and the prior year, benefitting from the continued strong sales performance in DCC Health & Beauty Solutions and from the contributions from acquisitions completed over the last year.

DCC's two smaller divisions, DCC Environmental and DCC Food & Beverage, both traded in line with budget and ahead of last year as the economic recovery in Britain and Ireland continues.

Year to 31 March 2015

At what is still a very early stage in its financial year (particularly given that operating profit is significantly weighted towards the second half), the Group now anticipates that operating profit and adjusted earnings per share will be approximately 10% - 12% ahead of last year.

This guidance continues to be set against the important assumption that there will be normal winter weather conditions. Having regard to the unseasonably colder start to the prior year, it is anticipated that this growth in the year to 31 March 2015 will be significantly weighted towards the second half.

Development Activity

As previously announced on 3 June 2014, DCC Healthcare has acquired Williams Medical Holdings ("Williams"), the market leader in the supply of medical and pharmaceutical products and related services to general practitioners in Britain. The consideration was paid in cash at completion, based on an enterprise value of £45 million. Williams supplies a wide range of own and third party branded products - medical equipment, consumables and pharmaceuticals - to a very broad customer base of c.10,000 GP practices and healthcare providers in the community care and domiciliary care sectors. The business also provides a range of services including field based testing & calibration and repair & maintenance of equipment. The Williams business model, similar to that in DCC Technology, is based on telesales, e-commerce, product catalogues and key account management, supported by high quality IT systems and cost effective logistics.

The acquisition of Williams represents an excellent strategic fit and another material step forward for DCC Healthcare following the acquisitions of Kent Pharma, Leonhard Lang UK and UPL over the last 15 months.

DCC's strong equity base, long term debt maturities and significant cash and committed funding resources leave it well placed to continue the development of its business in existing and new geographies.

Date for Interim Results

DCC expects to announce its interim results for the six months to 30 September 2014 on Tuesday 4 November 2014.

For reference:                                                                                               

Tommy Breen, Chief Executive

Fergal O'Dwyer, Chief Financial Officer

Stephen Casey, Investor Relations Manager

Telephone: [phone]

Email: [e-mail]

Web: www.dcc.ie

Forward-looking statements

This announcement contains some forward-looking statements that represent DCC's expectations for its business, based on current expectations about future events, which by their nature involve risk and uncertainty.  DCC believes that its expectations and assumptions with respect to these forward-looking statements are reasonable, however because they involve risk and uncertainty as to future circumstances, which are in many cases beyond DCC's control, actual results or performance may differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward-looking statements.

About DCC plc

DCC plc is an international sales, marketing, distribution and business support services group headquartered in Dublin with operations in Britain, Continental Europe and Ireland. DCC has five divisions - DCC Energy, DCC Technology, DCC Healthcare, DCC Environmental and DCC Food & Beverage. In its last financial year ended 31 March 2014, DCC generated revenues of £11.2 billion and operating profits of £208 million and currently employs approximately 10,000 people in 13 countries. DCC's shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and are included in the FTSE All-Share Index and the FTSE 250 Index under Support Services.   

 

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