Photo by: Duane Daws
While ARB Holdings’ lighting division delivered a strong performance in the financial year to June 30, the JSE-listed group’s full-year earnings growth has been hampered by its electrical division’s continued battle with headwinds.
The group’s headline earnings a share dipped 0.6% to 49.99c for the year under review, with basic earnings a share posting a marginal decline from 50.29c in 2014 to 49.98c in the year under review.
Profit for the year contracted marginally to R153-million, while operating profit decreased 3.2% to R196.5-million, resulting in a slight contraction in the operating margin to 9.1%.
The electrical and lighting product distributor’s full-year group revenue declined 3% to R2.15-billion, owing to a continued decline in the electrical division's turnover.
The electrical division, which had been hit by a lack of infrastructure spend and a lack of significant capital expenditure by State-owned power utility Eskom in the rural electrification programme, posted an 11.5% drop in operating profit to R122.7-million and a 7.2% drop in revenue to R1.74-billion.
ARB’s lighting division, however, continued it strong growth trajectory during the year, bolstered by the introduction of new product categories and a narrowed focus on key customers.
The unit’s 2015 full-year operating profit reached R43.8-million, compared with R39.5-million in the prior year, supported by a 21.3% revenue increase to R425.5-million.
Overall, the group's operations remained strongly cash generative, with a robust financial position reflecting a net asset value per share of 327.37c and a net ungeared cash position of R226.8-million.
In light of this, ARB declared a dividend of 20.1c a share for the 12 months to June, with a special further dividend of 10c a share announced to return excess cash to shareholders.