Half yearly financial report for six months ended 30 June 2019

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27 Aug 2019
Bunzl plc.

Half yearly financial report for six months ended 30 June 2019

Bunzl plc, the specialist international distribution and services Group, today publishes its half yearly financial report for the six months ended 30 June 2019.

Financial results As reported
under
IFRS 16
H1 19		  IAS 17Δ
H1 19		 As reported
under
IAS 17
H1 18		 IAS 17Δ  
growth
at actual
exchange		 IAS 17Δ
growth
at constant
exchange
Revenue £4,528.4m £4,528.4m £4,343.7m 4.3% 1.2%
Adjusted operating profit* £302.7m £291.8m £285.0m 2.4% 0.3%
Adjusted profit before income tax* £264.2m £264.9m £257.9m 2.7% 0.8%
Adjusted earnings per share* 60.4p 60.6p 59.4p 2.0% 0.0%
Interim dividend 15.5p 15.5p 15.2p 2.0%  
           
Statutory results As reported
under
IFRS 16
H1 19		 As reported
under
IAS 17
H1 18		    
Operating profit £239.0m £210.8m    
Profit before income tax £200.5m £197.3m    
Basic earnings per share 46.5p 45.1p    

Highlights include:

  • Revenue up 4.3%, 1.2% at constant exchange rates, with underlying organic growth of 0.8%
  • Operating margin* 6.7%, up 12 basis points on a reported basis; down 6 basis points at constant exchange rates on a consistent IAS 17 basis
  • Adjusted profit before income tax* up 2.7% on a consistent IAS 17 basis, 0.8% at constant exchange rates
  • Year to date committed acquisition spend of £98 million with active pipeline
  • Return on average operating capital* 48.8% with return on invested capital* 14.7% on an IAS 17 basis
  • Continued strong cash conversion* of 96%
  • 26 year track record of dividend growth continues with a 2% increase in the interim dividend

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

“Against the background of slowing macroeconomic and market conditions across the countries and sectors in which we operate, Bunzl has produced a resilient operating performance with high cash conversion and an increased dividend.

Looking forward, the Group’s expectations for 2019 remain unchanged. Despite continuing economic uncertainties, the Board believes that the combination of our strong competitive position, diversified and resilient businesses and ability to consolidate our fragmented markets will lead to further progress. We have a strong balance sheet and are in active discussions with a number of acquisition targets which we anticipate will result in additional deals during the remainder of the year.”

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 six months ended 30 June 2019 are not directly comparable with those reported in the prior period under the previous applicable accounting standard, IAS 17 ‘Leases’. To provide meaningful comparatives, the results for the six months ended 30 June 2019 have therefore also been presented under IAS 17 with the growth rates shown on an IAS 17 basis. See Notes 2 and 3 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 David Allchurch
Brian May, Finance Director Martin Robinson
Tel: +44 (0)20 7725 5000 Tel: +44 (0)20 7353 4200

 

Half year financial report for six months ended 30 June 2019