Annual results for the year ended 31 December

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24 Feb 2020
Bunzl plc

Annual results for the year ended 31 December

Bunzl plc, the specialist international distribution and services Group, today publishes its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019.

Financial results As reported
under
IFRS 16
2019		  IAS 17Δ
2019		 As reported
under
IAS 17
2018		 IAS 17Δ
growth
at actual
exchange		 IAS 17Δ
growth
at constant
exchange
Revenue £9,326.7m £9,326.7m £9,079.4m 2.7% 1.0%
Adjusted operating profit* £653.3m £630.9m £614.0m 2.8% 1.5%
Adjusted profit before income tax* £578.2m £579.1m £559.0m 3.6% 2.4%
Adjusted earnings per share* 132.2p 132.4p 129.6p 2.2% 1.0%
Dividend for the year 51.3p 51.3p 50.2p 2.2%  
           
Statutory results As reported
under
IFRS 16
2019		 As reported
under
IAS 17
2018		    
Operating profit £528.4m £466.2m    
Profit before income tax £453.3m £424.8m    
Basic earnings per share 104.8p 98.4p    

Highlights include:

  • Revenue up 1.0% at constant exchange rates, up 2.7% at actual exchange rates
  • Operating margin* up from 6.7% to 6.8% at constant exchange rates on a consistent IAS 17 basis, unchanged at actual exchange rates
  • Adjusted profit before income tax* up 2.4% at constant exchange rates on a consistent IAS 17 basis, up 3.6% at actual exchange rates
  • Committed acquisition spend of £124 million during the year with four acquisitions announced in recent months (annualised revenue £300 million) and a promising pipeline
  • Return on average operating capital* 48.4% with return on invested capital* 14.6% on an IAS 17 basis
  • Continued strong cash conversion* of 101% and free cashflow growth of 10%
  • 27 year track record of dividend growth continues with a 2.2% increase in the dividend for the year

Commenting on today’s results, Frank van Zanten, Chief Executive Officer of Bunzl, said:

“Against the background of mixed macroeconomic and market conditions which prevailed during 2019 across the countries and sectors in which we operate, I am pleased to report that Bunzl has produced another resilient performance with an increase in operating margin. It is particularly good to see continued strong cash conversion and free cash flow growth.

Looking forward, although we continue to see challenging trading conditions in many of our markets, our strong competitive position, diversified and resilient businesses and ability to consolidate our fragmented markets further should lead to improved growth at constant exchange rates principally due to the impact of the good level of recent acquisition activity. Bunzl has a strong balance sheet with significant financial capacity and acquisitions remain a key element of our strategy.  The acquisition pipeline is promising and a number of discussions are ongoing.”

Δ

Following the adoption of IFRS 16 ‘Leases’ with effect from 1 January 2019, because the Group has adopted the accounting standard using the modified retrospective approach to transition and has accordingly not restated prior periods, the results for the year ended 31 December 2019 are not directly comparable with those reported in the prior year under the previous applicable accounting standard, IAS 17 ‘Leases’.  To provide meaningful comparatives, the results for the year ended 31 December 2019 have therefore also been presented under IAS 17 with the growth rates shown on an IAS 17 basis.  See Notes 1 and 2 for a reconciliation of the IAS 17 alternative performance measures to the equivalent IFRS measures.
* Alternative performance measure (see Note 3).

Enquiries:

Bunzl plc Tulchan
Frank van Zanten, Chief Executive Officer David Allchurch
Richard Howes, Chief Financial Officer

Martin Robinson
Tel: +44 (0)20 7725 5000 Tel: +44 (0)20 7353 4200

Note:
A webcast of the presentation to analysts is now available on the Company’s website at www.bunzl.com.

Annual results for the year ended 31 December 2019