Press Releases - Full Year Results 2020/21

Full Year Results 2020/21

10 June 2021

Record profit for 18th consecutive year

Halma, the global group of life-saving technology companies focused on growing a safer, cleaner and healthier future, today announces its full year results for the 12 months to 31 March 2021.

Financial Highlights

Change

2021

2020

Continuing Operations

 

 

 

Revenue

-2%

£1,318.2m

£1,338.4m

Adjusted Profit before Taxation1, 3

+4%

£278.3m

£267.0m

Adjusted Earnings per Share2, 3

+2%

58.67p

57.39p

 

 

 

 

Statutory Profit before Taxation

+13%

£252.9m

£224.1m

Statutory Earnings per Share

+10%

53.61p

48.66p

Total Dividend per Share4

+7%

17.65p

16.50p

 

 

 

 

Return on Sales3,5

 

21.1%

19.9%

Return on Total Invested Capital3

 

14.4%

15.3%

Net Debt6

 

£256.2m

£375.3m

  • Record profit: Adjusted1 profit before tax up 4%; organic constant currency3,7 profit up 1%; statutory profit before tax up 13%, including a £21.6m gain on disposal of Fiberguide Industries.
  • Three out of four sectors grew profit on a reported basis; two on an organic constant currency7 basis.
  • Revenue down 2%, with a 5% decline in the first half improving to 2% growth in the second half.
  • Organic constant currency3,7 revenue down 6%, with an 11% decline in the first half improving to a flat performance in the second half.
  • Robust revenue performance in all major regions: Asia Pacific slightly up including double digit growth in China; the USA and Mainland Europe stable; a small decline in the UK.
  • Strong returns: Return on Sales3,5 of 21.1% and ROTIC3 of 14.4%.
  • Continued investment in future growth: R&D expenditure at 5.3% of revenue.
  • Impressive cash generation: cash conversion of 104%, driven primarily by good working capital control.
  • Rebound in M&A activity since the start of the second half, with a healthy pipeline and momentum continuing into the new financial year.
  • Strong balance sheet and significant liquidity supporting value-enhancing acquisitions and an increased dividend.
  • Total dividend4 per share for the year up 7%, the 42nd consecutive year of an increase of 5% or more.

Operational and Sustainability Highlights

  • Self-financed an employee furlough programme without accessing the UK Government’s employee support scheme. Total employee numbers at end March 2021 unchanged from end March 2020.
  • No balance sheet support requested or provided from the UK Government or our other stakeholders.
  • Accelerated planned technology investments to support our companies’ growth, including operational IT and digital product development projects.
  • Increasing our impact: new Sustainability Framework to amplify our positive impact from purpose-aligned growth and focus our efforts on the most material areas both for Halma and its stakeholders.
  • Set a 1.5 degree-aligned 2030 target for Scope 1 & 2 emissions and a target to achieve net zero Scope 1 & 2 emissions by 2040.
  • Made new public commitments including: paying a Real Living Wage across UK operations from 1 June 2022; signing the Change the Race Ratio charter; and disclosing for the first time the gender pay gap in our UK and US operations.
  • Appointed Dame Louise Makin as Chair Designate and Dharmash Mistry as non-executive Director. Dame Louise will succeed Paul Walker as Chair at our AGM in July 2021.
  • Announced a new sector organisation from April 2021 to better align Halma’s operations and reporting with its purpose and focus on the safety, environmental and health markets.

Andrew Williams, Group Chief Executive of Halma, commented:

“Halma’s purpose is to grow a safer, cleaner, healthier future, for everyone, every day. It underpins our growth strategy, financial model, culture and organisational design. The combination and interaction of these elements has created increasing value for all stakeholders on a sustainable basis for almost 50 years.

Together, they have enabled us to make further progress during the ongoing global pandemic, giving us an agility which has been crucial in allowing us to address short-term challenges while simultaneously investing for a fast-changing future. Our progress has also been supported by our teams’ relentless execution across all parts of our business, and our resilience which stems from the diversity of our market niches, their fundamental growth drivers, and the value of the solutions we provide.

For the year ahead, we expect our markets to continue to recover, albeit at varying rates, while acknowledging that there are potential headwinds including currency, inflation, and supply chain constraints. Organic constant currency revenue for the period from the beginning of January to the end of May is up 10% year-on-year. We have made a good start to the year, order intake is currently ahead of revenue and the same period last year, and we also have a good pipeline of potential acquisition opportunities. We currently expect to deliver full year low double-digit percentage organic constant currency profit growth (prior to any IAS 38 impact8) and a more normal level of return on sales. We look forward to making further progress, in this year and the longer term.”

Notes:

  1. Adjusted to remove the amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, acquisition items, restructuring costs, and profit or loss on disposal of operations totalling £25.4m (2020: £42.9m). See note 1 to the Results for details.
  2. Adjusted to remove the amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, acquisition items, restructuring costs, profit or loss on disposal of operations and the associated taxation thereon. See note 2 to the Results for details.
  3. Adjusted1 Profit before Taxation, Adjusted1 Earnings per Share, organic growth rates, Return on Sales5 and Return on Total Invested Capital (ROTIC) are alternative performance measures used by management. See notes 1, 2 and 3 to the Results for details.
  4. Total dividend paid and proposed per share, comprising interim dividend of 6.87p per share and proposed final dividend of 10.78p per share.
  5. Return on Sales is defined as Adjusted1 Profit before Taxation from continuing operations expressed as a percentage of revenue from continuing operations.
  6. Includes IFRS 16 lease liabilities of £65.0m (2020: £61.5m).
  7. Organic constant currency measures exclude the effect of movements in foreign exchange rates on the translation of revenue and profit1 into Sterling, as well as acquisitions and disposals for the year following completion.
  8. See “New accounting standards and interpretations” section in the Financial Review.

For further information, please contact:

Halma plc
Andrew Williams, Group Chief Executive
Marc Ronchetti, Chief Financial Officer
+44 (0)1494 721 111


Charles King, Head of Investor Relations +44 (0)7776 685948
MHP Communications
Andrew Jaques/Giles Robinson
+44 (0)20 3128 8788

A webcast of today’s results presentation will be available in our Investors section later today.

NOTE TO EDITORS

1.

Halma is a global group of life-saving technology companies, focused on growing a safer, cleaner, healthier future for everyone, every day.

Its purpose defines the three broad market areas where it operates:

 

  • Safety

protecting life as populations grown and protecting worker safety.

 

  • Environment

improving food and water quality, and monitoring air pollution.

 

  • Health

meeting rising healthcare demand as growing populations age and lifestyles change.

 

It employs over 7,000 people in more than 20 countries, with major operations in the UK, Mainland Europe, the USA and Asia Pacific. Halma is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LON: HLMA) and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.

In January 2021, Halma was named Britain's Most Admired Company 2020 by Management Today.

2.

This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements which have been made by the Directors in good faith using information available up until the date they approved the announcement. Forward-looking statements should be regarded with caution as by their nature such statements involve risk and uncertainties relating to events and circumstances that may occur in the future. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on the outcome of these uncertain future events.

Please click here to read full results

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