The Toll Group has released its interim results for the six months ended 31 December 2012. With the exception of its Global Forwarding division, the Toll Group has returned a solid half-year result.
The company has benefitted from recent capital investment, with operating net profit after tax up, and positive operating cash flow and strong balance sheet meaning an increased dividend will be paid, reflecting confidence in the sustainability of earnings and cash flow.
Sales revenue increased 2.5 per cent on the same time last year to A$4.5 billion, and net profit after tax before non-recurring items increased 7.6 per cent to A$174 million. Earnings per share increased by 1.1 cent to 25.4 cents per share, and Toll’s interim dividend increased 1.0 cent per share to 12.5 cents.
Toll Group managing director Brian Kruger said Toll has again shown the benefits of its strong and diversified business.
“This result has primarily been achieved through the work we’ve done to win contracts, grow revenue and retain customers, while at the same time reduce costs and improve productivity,” Mr Kruger said.
“We recognise that all parts of the business will need to retain a strong focus on productivity improvements and increased efficiency to ensure we maintain our leading position in what remains a highly competitive marketplace.
“I’m pleased that we’re starting to see the benefit of the recent investments we’ve made in fleet, IT and property both in Australia and in our developing international businesses, and we will continue to target our capital expenditure to grow our returns.”
Looking ahead, Mr Kruger said he was not assuming the external economic environment would get any better in the short term, so Toll’s focus will be on continuing to win business and improve the things it can control.
“Overall, the company expects its results for the second half of the year to be better than for the same period last year.”
Mr Kruger said an increased fully franked interim dividend of 12.5 cents per ordinary share will be paid to shareholders on 2 April 2013.
