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27 Feb 2017
Bunzl plc

Annual results report for the year ended 31 December 2016

Bunzl plc, the international distribution and outsourcing Group, today publishes its annual results for the year ended 31 December 2016.

Financial results 2016 2015 Growth
as reported
Growth
at constant
exchange
Revenue £7,429.1m £6,489.7m 14% 4%
Adjusted operating profit* £525.0m £455.0m 15% 5%
Adjusted profit before income tax* £478.2m £411.2m 16% 6%
Adjusted earnings per
share*
106.1p 91.0p 17% 6%
Dividend for the year 42.0p 38.0p 11%  
         
Statutory results        
Operating profit £409.7m £366.5m 12%  
Profit before income tax £362.9m £322.7m 12%  
Basic earnings per share 80.7p 71.0p 14%  

Highlights include:

  • Good increases at constant exchange rates in revenue, adjusted operating profit* and adjusted earnings per share*
  • Group operating margin up 10bp to 7.1% benefitting from acquisitions
  • Committed acquisition spend of £184 million on 14 businesses; one further acquisition announced today
  • Return on average operating capital of 55.9% with return on invested capital of 16.7%
  • Continued strong cash conversion (operating cash flow to adjusted operating profit*) of 99%
  • 24 year track record of dividend growth continues with an 11% increase in the dividend for the year

* Before customer relationships amortisation, acquisition related costs and associated tax where relevant (see Note 1)
Before acquisition related costs (see Consolidated cash flow statement)

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

“Bunzl has delivered another good set of results in 2016. The strength, resilience and reliability of our business model and strategy that we have applied consistently over many years, together with the compounding effect of our high cash conversion and our ability to take advantage of market consolidation opportunities, have enabled Bunzl to produce a strong long term performance.

I am also delighted that we have been able to announce the acquisition of LSH in Singapore following which we now have operations across 30 countries globally.

Looking forward, against the backdrop of mixed macroeconomic and market conditions, we believe that our well positioned portfolio of international businesses and improving organic growth rates, recent customer wins and a promising acquisition pipeline will lead to continued overall growth for the Group.”

Enquiries:

Bunzl plc Tulchan
Frank van Zanten, Chief Executive David Allchurch
Brian May, Finance Director Stephen Malthouse
Tel: +44 (0)20 7725 5000 Tel: +44 (0)20 7353 4200

Note:
A live webcast of today’s presentation to analysts will be available on www.bunzl.com commencing at 9.30 am.

Annual results for the year ended 31 December 2016