Half Year Results for the six months to 30 June 2023
Mpac Group plc
(“Mpac”, “the Company” or “the Group”)
Half Year Results for the six months to 30 June 2023
Strong order intake and healthy prospects pipeline; remain confident in long term prospects
Mpac Group (AIM: MPAC), the global packaging and automation solutions Group, today announces its unaudited financial results for the six months to 30 June 2023 (the “period”).
Financial Highlights
· Order intake of £62.4m (2022: £32.8m) contributing to a closing order book of £77.5m (30 June 2022: £62.6m; 31 Dec 2022: £67.2m)
· Group revenue of £52.8m, up 4% (2022: £50.6m)
· Underlying* profit before tax of £1.9m (2022: £1.1m)
· Statutory profit before tax of £0.2m (2022: loss of £0.4m)
· Underlying* earnings per share of 6.5p (2022: 3.6p)
· Basic loss per share of (2.2)p (2022: earnings per share of 3.6p)
· Net cash of £2.2m (30 June 2022: £8.6m; 31 December 2022: Net borrowings of £4.7m)
*Underlying results are stated before pension related credits of £0.3m (H1 2022: charges of £0.4m); amortisation of acquired intangible assets of £0.8m (H1 2022: £0.8m); restructuring costs of £1.1m (H1 2022: £0.1m) and other non-underlying items of £0.1m (H1 2022: £0.3m).
Operational and Strategic Highlights
· Shipment, installation, and commissioning of battery cell assembly Customer Qualification Plant (“CQP”) automation line to FREYR Battery (”Freyr”) progressing to schedule
· Commenced pre-engineering work to define specification of Giga America for Freyr
· Winning new customers in target sectors
· Strong growth in Service business, delivering on strategic focus to improve and sustain customer support
· Reduction of working capital progressing to plan
· Implementation of One Mpac business systems in our Cleveland, USA site
· Strengthened leadership team with new appointments in UK and North America
· Second year cohort joined Mpac Academy to develop future leaders and to retain talent
· Strong pipeline of potential acquisitions for future strategic growth
Current trading and outlook
· Current trading is in line with the Board’s expectations and full year market guidance remains unchanged. Margins are normalising as anticipated and with a strong order book and prospects pipeline, Mpac is well positioned to deliver on the previously announced H2 weighting to the financial year, despite the challenging trading environment.
Adam Holland, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
”I am delighted to report my first set of interim results as Chief Executive Officer, which were in line with our expectations. I am pleased to be able to report significant progress in the first half of 2023, with increases in Original Equipment and Service order intake and a closing order book significantly up on the prior year. In addition, the prior year expansion of working capital has unwound in line with expectations, and we close H1 in a positive net cash position. We have a lot to do in the second half but are anticipating normalising margins in the period and are focused on delivering the strong order book for our customers. We have made good progress in developing the leadership team and I am confident that Mpac has the employee skillset to take advantage of the attractive markets in which we operate and deliver on our strategic objectives.”