British engineering company Invensys plc (ISYS.L), a takeover target eyed by many companies, reported Thursday a decline in fiscal year 2012 profit hurt mainly by additional costs from its nuclear projects in China.
Earlier this week, Sunday Times reported that the company is a target for potential bids from industrial giants, including Siemens AG (SI), ABB Ltd. (ABB, ANN.L), Emerson Electric Co. (EMR) and General Electric Co. (GE), who according to the newspaper have been repeatedly approaching the company. Invensys has reportedly dismissed these speculations.
For the year ended March 2012, the company's profit before tax declined to 140 million pounds from 222 million pounds last year. Underlying earnings per share dropped 32 percent to 13.4 pence.
Operating profit declined 20 percent following additional costs totaling 60 million pounds arising from the company's nuclear projects in China and a handful of contracts within Invensys Rail's Asia Pacific region.
Revenues from continuing operations increased 2 percent to 2.54 billion pounds from 2.49 billion pounds in the previous year. The growth was 3 percent at constant exchange rates.
Te company said the revenues growth was driven by large greenfield contracts in Invensys Operations Management and new market contracts at Invensys Rail, offset by a reduction at Invensys Controls.
Total order intake improved 12 percent year-over-year to 2.75 billion pounds.
The board has also recommended a final dividend of 2.75 pence per share to shareholders of record on June 22, 2012, payable on August 3. This will bring the total dividend for the year to 4.4 pence per share, an increase of 10 percent from last year.
Looking ahead, Wayne Edmunds, chief executive of the company said, "Overall we are looking forward to a year of improving performances across our businesses."
ISYS.L is currently trading at 209.8 pence, up 5.2 pence or 2.54 percent, on a volume of 5.29 million shares on the LSE.
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