2 March 2012 – final results
Results for 2011 showed revenue up 17% at US$2,137m. Underlying profit before tax was US$170.2m (2010: US$147.8m) and this translated into underlying earnings per share of 29.0 cents versus 27.3 cents a year earlier. The final dividend of 9.95 cents per share (2010: 9.39 cents) takes the dividend for the full year to 13.94 cents per share (2010: 13.09 cents).
Interestingly, free cash flow edged up from US$178.6m to US$185.8m and the fact that the company is consistently generating this level of cash is clearly of great appeal to investors. Although the shares have moved higher following our recent tip, we retain our BUY rating.