FW Thorpe confident amid rising cost pressures

Professional lighting systems manufacturer FW Thorpe reported a 21.9% rise in full-year revenue on Tuesday, taking it to £143.7m, with growth excluding the Zemper acquisition coming in at 9.9%.

The AIM-traded firm said its operating profit for the 12 months ended 30 June was ahead 28.5%, or 20.3% excluding Zemper, to £24.7m.

Its profit before tax excluding 2021 exceptional items were up 29.8% at £24.1m, while its profit before tax was 19.7% firmer at £21.4m.

Basic earnings per share were up 26.5% at 17.16p, or 23.1% higher when discounting the acquisition of Zemper.

Thorpe’s board declared a final dividend of 4.61p, up 7%, making for a total interim and final dividend of 6.15p - an increase of 6% year-on-year.

Its directors said the solid operating profit growth came despite challenges with component supply and inflationary cost pressures, adding that Zemper, acquired in October last year, was now successfully integrated.

Net cash generated from operating activities, despite increasing stock levels, remained “strong” at £19.7m, down from £21.9m year-on-year.

The company described a “solid start” to the 2023 financial year, with operating performance ahead of the start of last year.

“The dramatic rising cost of energy is a catalyst for customers to study their lighting energy consumption and look for ways to reduce it,” said chairman and joint chief executive officer Mike Allcock of the firm’s outlook.

“In the media there is often mention of turning lights off to reduce usage, but of course commercially, in most cases, doing so is simply not practical and may be dangerous.

“The whole group, and especially Thorlux, is focused on designing energy saving products; therefore, I anticipate that orders should be resilient if a recession becomes inevitable.”

Allcock said energy costs of Thorpe’s customers had tripled in some instances, meaning investment payback periods could be one third of those a year ago.

“FW Thorpe has a broad portfolio of customers; those in government or blue-chip industries have usually found the capital to invest in their assets when times get more difficult.

“Within the group we have taken actions to cover rising costs: we continually strive to achieve better margins without unfairly penalising our customers, ensuring long term retention rates.

“We strive for further efficiency improvements and have the cash to invest in energy saving and sustainability projects.”

The group had started the financial year with a “robust” order book and some “healthy” projects on the horizon, Mike Allcock added.

“The group sees an improving supply and operations picture and, as such, the board expects a good first half performance despite ongoing pressures on operating costs.”

At 1244 BST, shares in FW Thorpe were up 5.35% at 374p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.