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CARDNO (CDD) has recorded a record half year profit of $40.1 million for the six months to December, an 11 per cent increase over the previous corresponding period (PCP).
Revenue is $599.9 million, up 34.7 per cent on the PCP and operating cash flow was $40 million and organic revenue grew of 7.6 per cent.
“This is a good result results given the difficult conditions that exist,” says chief financial officer Jeff Forbes.
Forbes says the profit didn’t grow at the same rate as revenue because of a margin squeeze caused by market conditions and strong competition.
Earnings per share dropped 11.8 per cent from 32.74 cents to 28.87 cents.
“EPS dropped because of some of the impact of the share raising we undertook in March last year … plus some other one-off impacts like Hurricane Sandy,” says Forbes.
“There were some higher acquisition-related costs, some slowdown due to the federal election in the United States, plus high amortisation and restructuring charges which have impacted the profit line.”
The company completed five acquisitions in the period in the mining, energy, environmental and infrastructure sections, adding 500 staff.
Total liabilities increased by about $54 million, but Forbes says the company’s interest cover ratio is above 20 times and net debt equity a very strong 25 per cent.
Managing director Andrew Buckley (pictured) says market conditions remain difficult but the outlook for the Americas is improving, with the environmental market remaining strong, broad economic growth forecast to improve and signs of improvement in the residential development sector.
The outlook is mixed in Australia and New Zealand as the resources sectors are expected to continue to grow, but offset by a slowdown in infrastructure expenditure.
Cardno shares were up 1.37 per cent to $7.390 early this afternoon.
Read more about Cardno’s global ambitions from managing director Andrew Buckley, pick up a copy of the latest Brisbane Business News from participating newsagents, or download a digital copy from Apple’s App Store.
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