Diploma plc raises annual dividend as performance recovers in Q4

Diploma plc (LON: DPLM) said on Monday that all of its businesses posted signs of recovery in the fiscal fourth quarter. The company also expressed confidence that its financial performance in the new fiscal year to date has remained resilient as well.

Diploma jumped more than 2.5% in premarket trading on Monday but slid more than 4% on market open. At £22.50 per share, the British business is currently about 10% up year to date in the stock market. The stock had plummeted to as low as £13 per share in March due to the COVID-19 disruptions. If you’re thinking of investing, you’ll need a broker: here’s a list of the top few to make selection easier for you.

Diploma reports a 1% decline in revenue

On the back of its upbeat performance in Q4, Diploma announced a slight increase in its annual dividend from 29 pence per share to 30 pence per share. The components distributor was pushed into suspending its interim dividend earlier this year due to the economic blow from the Coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 1.3 million people in the United Kingdom and caused a little under 52 thousand deaths.

In terms of revenue, the FTSE 250 listed company noted a 1% year over year decline to £538.4 million. Excluding acquisitions, the decline in revenue came in at 7%. Annual profit, Diploma added, printed at £66.7 million that represents a 20% decline versus last year. But the cash flow, the British company said, remained exceptionally strong.

Diploma raised £194 million in September

Earlier in 2020, Diploma acquired Windy City Wire, a U.S. based cable wire distributor. To fund the acquisition, it raised £194 million in September.  

For the current financial year, Diploma plc now forecasts its underlying growth to print at close to 5%. In separate news from the UK, the world’s second-largest mobile operator, Vodafone Group plc said that it swung to a pre-tax profit of £1.84 billion in the fiscal first half.

Diploma performed fairly upbeat in the stock market last year with an annual gain of roughly 70%. At the time of writing, it has a market cap of £2.80 billion and has a price to earnings ratio of 40.27.