|
by Mark Halper, ME Editorial Staff Posted on Thursday, May 15, 2008 4:19:18 PM Sign Up to receive Daily News Alerts in your E-mail Inbox    | Abstract: | The automation and controls company reported single-digit revenue growth, but lauded its balance-sheet performance and its nearly debt-free status. |
| Keywords: | Invensys earnings, Invensys sales |
British automation and engineering services vendor Invensys plc on Thursday reported lukewarm, 7% revenue growth for the fourth quarter, tallying £572 million, while operating profits jumped 13% to £80 million as the company strengthens its push into services. Although new orders declined overall by 10%, the company said that its emphasis on the energy sector, where booming oil and gas prices are generating investments, will help sustain growth.
For the year ended March 31, 2008, revenue grew 6% year over year to £2.1 billion, and profits jumped 19% to £254 million. Orders declined by 2% to £2 billion.
Despite the mixed results, CEO Ulf Henriksson declared on a conference call with analysts that Invensys’ turn toward integration and services has helped complete an about-face that began three years ago, when the company’s debt stood at a whopping £3 billion. Both he and CFO Steve Hare repeatedly boasted that Invensys now has a positive cash position of about £200 million, and that it is “effectively a debt-free company,’’ as it paid off £343 million of high yield bonds. Hare even described a “return to being a normal company.”
[Click to continue] |
|
|
|
|