DCC, the Irish conglomerate which has businesses ranging from healthcare to energy, today reported pre-tax profits of €181.7m for the year to the end of March, an increase of over 12% on the previous year.
The company also said its board will set out its position on the outcome of its insider trading legal case with Fyffes later this week, having "carefully considered" whether any issues of corporate governance arise. The board up to now has supported Flavin.
The Irish Supreme Court ruled last year that DCC Executive Chairman was in possession of insider information when he sold DCC's stake in fruit importer Fyffes in 2000 for €106m.
Today's results include the €50m cost of settling the case.
DCC's revenue surged 37% to €5.53 billion, boosted by acquisitions and higher energy prices. Adjusted earnings per share grew 15% to 165 cent. A 15% higher total dividend of 56.67 cent will be paid.
A breakdown showed that profits in the energy division grew by 25% to €74.3m, while its SerCom arm showed growth of 23% to €40m. DCC Healthcare profits were up 4% to €23.5m, while profits in the food and drink division climbed 1.6% to €15.3m. Environmental profits rose 34% to €14m.
The pre-tax profit figure also included a one-off profit of €94.7m from the sale of its stake in home builder Manor Park.
Commenting on the results, Jim Flavin, said: “These excellent results reflect strong organic growth and successful acquisitions. DCC achieved accelerated operating profit growth of 20.1% (24.1% constant currency) in the seasonally more significant second half.
DCC is budgeting for strong earnings growth in the range of 12% to 15%, on a constant currency basis, in the current financial year. However, the impact of the translation of the significant proportion of DCC’s profits that are sterling based into euro at the approximate current exchange rate of Stg£0.80 = €1 would result in reported earnings growth in the range of 2% to 5%.
DCC has had an excellent start to the current financial year and continues to be well positioned both commercially and financially to augment growth through acquisition activity.”
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