LogiCamms posts FY earnings of $3m

West Perth-based electrical engineering company LogiCamms Ltd has beaten its earnings forecasts by 18 per cent after booking a full year net profit after tax of nearly $2.9 million in its first year as a listed company.

The profit result is up 71 per cent on the previous corresponding period and 18 per cent above forecasts contained in the company's 2007 prospectus on a full year normalised basis.

Revenue for the period was $31.3 million, an increase of 61 per cent. On a pro forma normalised basis annual revenue was $37.0 million, an increase of 7.3 per cent on prospectus forecasts.

Earnings per share was 13.7 cents and the directors have declared a maiden dividend of 3.5 cents per share fully franked. The dividend will be paid on 16 October and have a record date of 1 October 2008.

Managing director Adam Keats said the higher than expected result was driven by strong conditions in its core markets and a solid contribution from recently acquired assets.

In April 2008, LogiCamms completed the acquisition of Paterson Flood Engineers Pty Ltd, an established specialist electrical engineering and control systems firm delivering project services to customers in the Queensland market.

According to Mr Keats the acquisition is already delivering significant value to the LogiCamms group.

"Our strategy for 2008 was to expand the company.s service offering, capacity and range of capabilities," he said.

"The PFE acquisition has been an excellent addition to our existing operations, substantially improving our ability to service the currently buoyant resources sector."

Integration of the acquisition is proceeding well and profits for the four months of consolidated ownership exceeded forecasts by approximately 11 per cent.

The total earnings for the year of $2.9 million reflected an earnings per share of 13.7 cents a 17 per cent increase on the prospectus forecast of 11.7 cents. The value accretive nature of the Patterson Flood acquisition was largely responsible for the increase.

LogiCamms. underlying business remains strong. Normalised full year NPAT of the entities merged through the IPO (Logitech and Camms) was $3.4 million, slightly ahead of targets detailed in the prospectus.

With the inclusion of the above acquisitions on a full year normalised basis, actual earnings (NPAT) for the group over a 12 month period, is circa $5.1 million on a revenue base of $47.0 million.

Mr Keats said that the company would continue to pursue further acquisitions in the 2009 financial year.

"Our policy is to continue to search for acquisition opportunities that have the ability to build our national business. Acquisitions will only be made where we can see immediate, or within a relatively short period, increase in earnings per share by the acquisition," he said.

"We are very pleased with this result which has exceeded our expectations.

"With strong conditions in our core markets flowing from demand in Australia.s large and growing natural resources and utilities industries, I am highly confident we can continue the strong performance into the future."