The Incitec Pivot Ltd (ASX: IPL) share price is pushing higher this morning following the release of its full year results.
At the time of writing the industrials chemicals company's shares are up 2.5% to $3.68.
How did Incitec Pivot perform in FY 2019?
Incitec Pivot has just completed a very challenging 12 months of trade.
In FY 2019 the company posted a reported net profit after tax of $152 million. This result was impacted by $140 million of non-recurring items relating primarily to the one in one-hundred-year flood event in north Queensland. As a comparison, a year earlier the company posted net profit after tax of $208 million after individual material items or $347 million excluding them.
Earnings per share excluding individual material items fell to 9.5 cents per share. This compares to 20.9 cents per share in FY 2018.
In light of this sharp decline in earnings, the Incitec Pivot board has slashed its dividends in FY 2019. A 30% franked final dividend of 3.4 cents per share was declared, which brought its full year dividends to 4.7 cents per share. This is down 56% on the 10.7 cents per share paid to shareholders a year earlier.
Incitec Pivot's managing director and chief executive officer, Jeanne Johns, said: "While FY19 has been a challenging year with a number of non-recurring items impacting our result, the fundamentals underpinning our Explosives businesses in the Americas and Asia Pacific remain strong."
"The accelerating adoption of technology by the mining industry is driving significant demand for electronic detonation and our unique delivery systems. Our advanced Delta E emulsion system and market-leading detonators are premium technologies that are positioning us for growth," Johns added.
The CEO appears optimistic that FY 2020 will be better, which may be the reason its shares are pushing higher today.
Jeanne Johns said: "We have a clear focus on our underlying performance and driving improvements in what we can control in our Fertilisers business moving into FY20, ensuring we are well-placed to benefit when weather conditions and global commodity prices improve. The fundamentals underpinning our Dyno Nobel business are strong, with significant upside from our Manufacturing Excellence program and the continued rollout of premium technology."
