Morgan Advanced Materials hikes dividend, FY PBT rises

Manufacturing company Morgan Advanced Materials hiked its full-year dividend payout on Friday as it revealed annual pre-tax profits had risen.

Morgan Advanced Materials said reported revenues had risen 17% in 2022 to £1.11bn, boosting reported group adjusted operating profits 21.3% to £151.0m.

Group adjusted operating profit margins were 50 basis points higher at 13.6% and return on invested capital rose 190 basis points to 22.4%.

Adjusted earnings per share were 24.3% higher at 33.8p, while total dividends per share were hiked 31.9% to 12.0p.

Chief executive Pete Raby said: "This performance, with our continued investment in product innovation, provides us with a very solid foundation to deliver the strategy and financial framework set out in our recent Capital Markets Event.

"Demand has remained robust coming into this year, particularly from our faster growing markets. As previously announced, the cyber event we experienced in January has impacted sales and profitability in the short term, but our recovery is on track."

As of 0850 BST, Morgan Advanced Materials shares were up 1.18% at 301.0p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com