JSE-listed Dawn on Thursday declared its first dividend in four years after reporting a significant rise in earnings for the 2013 financial year.

The building and civil products manufacturer and supplier would pay out a final dividend of 16.5c a share for the twelve months to June.

It last paid a dividend, of 35c a share, in the 2008 financial year.

Speaking at the group’s results presentation, in Sandton, CEO Derek Tod said the short- to medium-term outlook for Dawn looked “very encouraging”, noting that the group remained in a strong strategic position in all its markets, with each division showing signs of further growth.

“Benefits from inflationary price increases on the back of the weaker rand and rising input costs, such as raw materials, energy and transport, will [also] flow through to the group,” he commented.

Further, the achievement of a national scale A- credit rating from Standard & Poor’s would lower the cost of debt for Dawn, he added.

For the year to June, the company posted headline earnings a share (Heps) of 66.1c a share – a 74% rise on the 38c a share recorded in 2012.

The group’s infrastructure segment recorded a 91% improvement in headline earnings, reaching the “best levels” seen in the last four years, on the back of increased spending by the Department of Water Affairs (DWA); sustained, consistent higher operating volumes; a consequent improvement in recoveries; and increased margins.

Government’s plan for the DWA and its associated entities to spend R675-billion as part of its public infrastructure spend programme over the next ten years “bodes well” for Dawn’s infrastructure division. The DWA’s increased traction in its water infrastructure spending showed no sign of losing momentum, said Tod.

During the year to June 2013, the DWA’s infrastructure spend was up 46% year-on-year. Further, spending on water projects increased by eight percentage points between the fourth quarter of 2012 and the first quarter of 2013, with this sector accounting for 34% of all government-led construction projects.

Meanwhile, despite a third-quarter decline in demand, Dawn’s building segment posted a 34% improvement in Heps, as the benefits of a R33-million turnaround in the Sanitaryware cluster started to emerge. This was supported by 11% growth in the Trading and Watertech clusters.

Group earnings a share increased 88%, from 35.5c a share in 2012, to 66.7c apiece for the year under review, while group profit jumped to R159.2-million, compared with R84.3-million the year before.

Dawn noted that group operating profit increased 55% to R253-million and that its operating margin increased from 3.9% to 5.5%, with the building, infrastructure and solutions divisions’ margins improving to 7.5%, 3.5% and 3.8% respectively.

The group generated revenue of R4.6-billion for the period under review, up 8.5% from the R4.2-billion generated in the prior year.

Revenue from the infrastructure segment, which contributed 36% to group revenue, reached R2-billion in 2013, a rise from R1.8-billion in 2012. The building segment, which generated 56% of group revenue achieved a 7% year-on-year increase in revenue to R3.3-billion.

Dawn International also posted strong results, which were incorporated in the building and infrastructure segments.

This division’s revenue increased from less than R150-million in the 2005 financial year, to R1.1-billion in 2012, reaching R1.3-billion and accounting for 20% of overall revenue during the year under review.

“The group’s geographic footprint is being further expanded, with current initiatives including the establishment of a DPI factory in Zambia to service the mining and related industries, the opening of a second AST trading operation in the north of Mozambique and the opening of an additional AST operation in Kenya,” Tod said.

Dawn Solutions contributed 8% to group revenue with a 21% increase to R375-million.