Financial calendar 2017
| Interim results released |
8 February 2017 |
| Associated record date |
10 March 2017 |
| Interim dividend payment date |
6 April 2017 |
| Preliminary results released |
14 September 2017 |
| Record date |
27 October 2017 |
| Annual General Meeting |
8 November 2017 |
| Final dividend payment date |
17 November 2017 |
Preliminary results for the full year ended 30 June 2016
Ricardo plc is a global engineering and strategic, technical and environmental consultancy business with a value chain that includes the niche manufacture and assembly of high-performance products. We employ over 2,900 professional engineers, consultants, scientists and support staff to deliver class-leading and innovative products and services for the benefit of a broad customer base, which includes the world’s major transportation original equipment manufacturers and operators, supply chain organisations, energy companies, financial institutions and government agencies.
Highlights
- Strong year-end order book at £231m (2015: £140m)
- Like-for-like order book growth of 18%
- Order intake of £361m (2015: £252m)
- Revenue up 29% to £332.4m (2015: £257.5m)
- Underlying
1 profit before tax up 41% to £37.7m (2015: £26.8m)
- Underlying
1 basic earnings per share up 30% to 55.2p (2015: 42.4p)
- Net debt of £34.4m after £48.8m of acquisition-related costs (2015: net funds of £14.3m)
- Full year dividend up 9% to 18.1p per share (2015: 16.6p)
- Acquisitions of Lloyd’s Register Rail (‘LR Rail’) and Cascade completed in the financial year; Exnovo completed post year-end
- Outlook remains positive, good platform for further growth.
1. Derived from operating profit which includes income of £5.4m under the Research & Development Expenditure Credit (‘RDEC’) scheme in respect of the current year, but excludes specific adjusting items, which comprise amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £3.4m (2015: £1.3m), acquisition-related expenditure of £2.8m (2015: £2.6m) and non-recurring income of £1.5m for claims under RDEC in respect of prior years. Including specific adjusting items, reported profit before tax was £33.0m (2015: £22.9m) and reported basic earnings per share was 48.6p (2015: 35.6p).
Comment on the results
Dave Shemmans, Chief Executive Officer
“Our mission at Ricardo is a simple one: to play a major part in solving the world's big issues around transportation, pollution, climate change and the efficient use of scarce resources such as oil and water.
“This year we have extended our capabilities into rail and water consulting through the acquisitions of LR Rail and Cascade, and expanded our capability in the urban mobility market through the acquisition of the Exnovo business after the year-end. We have stepped up our investment into facilities and research for the development of advanced clean automotive products, and we have supported countries worldwide with their submissions to the global COP21 congress in Paris. We are also welcoming additional members to our growing worldwide team of engineers and scientists who are inspired to make that vital difference. We continue to deliver a good set of financial results year-on-year, with revenue and profit growth across a diverse portfolio of clients and projects. Both of the businesses acquired in the year have performed strongly in their first year within the Ricardo Group.
“Our strategy to build long-term, multi-year contracts and relationships has been supported by the further expansion of the McLaren engine assembly line, by a high-profile transmission supply contract and through multi-year projects secured within the Environmental and Technical Consulting parts of the business. Our year-end order book stands at a record high and, in combination with our financial position, provides a good platform for the continued exploitation of the central strategy – to play our part in solving those big global issues.”