Specialist packaging company, Colorpak Limited (CLK) today announced a 23 percent increase in Net Profit after Tax (NPAT) for the 2007/08 year.
Directors have declared a fully franked final dividend of 1.75 cents per share plus a special dividend of 1 cent per share, fully franked.
This special dividend is in recognition of the company’s strong financial performance for the year and draws upon accumulated franking credits.
An interim fully franked dividend of 1.25 cents was paid bringing the total dividends for the year to 4 cents per share, fully franked.
The company also announced the introduction of a Dividend Reinvestment Program (DRP) Commentary Colorpak has produced excellent results in a tight, volatile market.
Its specialised, high-quality packaging operations have continued to perform strongly says Managing Director, Alex Commins.
“This is the second successive annual double-digit increase in NPAT which is exceptionally pleasing,” Commins says.
“Sales of $77.8 million for the year followed a strong growth trend over the past four years."
"We are the leader in specialised, high value packaging to targeted market sectors including pharmaceutical, cosmetics, confectionery, wine and technology/multimedia companies."
“This year we built on the solid base established in the previous year. We reaped the benefits of consolidating our Sydney operations at our new Regent’s Park facility."
"Meanwhile our operations at Braeside in Melbourne continued to perform very well,” he says.
Mr Commins listed the year’s highlights as healthy growth in sales to the pharmaceutical, fast moving consumer goods and beverage sectors, improved productivity from the Regents Park (Sydney) facilities following a relocation and reequipment program and continuing increased market acceptance for PharmaKit™ the company’s proprietary packaging suite for the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors.
"In addition, the company's strong cash management produced free cash flow of nearly $6 million which allowed for a net debt reduction of $3.566 million," Commins says. "The latest full year dividend yielded 8.5% fully franked based on the 30 June 2008 share price."
“The business environment was very challenging with consumer confidence turning down during the second half," Commins adds.
"Colorpak’s efficiency drive and focus on customer service has held the company in good stead throughout this period.”
Prevailing market conditions make forecasting difficult but the company anticipates continued growth in sales and profitability.
Colorpak sees 2008/09 as another year of robust cash generation.
“We continue to seek complementary, ‘bolt-on’ acquisitions but these must meet our strict investment criteria,” Commins says.
“The economic slowdown may provide new acquisition opportunities for us. We do expect the competitive landscape to remain very challenging but we are well placed to manage it,” he says.
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