Five Year summary
1994
£m
1995
£m
1996
£m
1997
£m
1998
£m
Sales
1,161
1,322
1,316
1,434
1,455
Profit before tax and exceptional items
85
106
137
147
152
Exceptional items
(35
)
(19
)
24
2
15
Profit before taxation
50
87
161
149
167
Group sales by destination
1994
£m
1995
£m
1996
£m
1997
£m
1998
£m
UK
395
456
404
428
330
Germany
109
131
173
160
238
Rest of Europe
232
287
288
316
358
USA
275
278
269
351
358
Asia
45
62
75
77
62
Rest of World
105
108
107
102
109
1161
1322
1316
1434
1455
Direct exports from the UK
147
189
153
133
98
Percentage of total sales to international markets
66%
66%
69%
70%
77%
Earnings and dividends
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
Adjusted earnings per share
16.4p
20.1p
25.7p
30.7p
30.4p
Earnings per share
6.0p
16.4p
31.5p
31.2p
33.5p
Ordinary dividend per share
10.5p
11.5p
13.0p
14.0p
14.8p
Balance sheet
1994
£m
1995
£m
1996
£m
1997
£m
1998
£m
Net operating assets
514
516
467
574
551
Non-operating assets (excluding borrowings)
(33
)
(39
)
(50
)
(60
)
(56
)
Net borrowings
(86
)
(12
)
(43
)
(189
)
(86
)
Net assets
395
465
374
325
409
Goodwill written off to reserves
210
206
334
439
427
Total investment
605
671
708
764
836
Statistics
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
Profit before exceptional items as a percentage of sales
7.3%
8.0%
10.3%
10.3%
10.4%
Profit before exceptional items
as a percentage of net assets
21.5%
22.8%
36.6%
45.2%
37.2%
Profit before exceptional items
as a percentage of total investment
14.1%
15.8%
19.4%
19.2%
18.2%
Net assets per share
120.9p
135.2p
107.8p
93.3p
116.9p
Net borrowings as a percentage
of shareholders’ funds
21.8%
2.6%
11.5%
58.2%
21.0%
Interest cover
9
15
31
26
28
Dividend cover
1.6
1.7
2.0
2.2
2.0
