Ferguson plc reports first quarter results
WOKINGHAM, UK / ACCESSWIRE / December 6, 2022 // CONTINUED EXECUTION DELIVERS STRONG START TO FISCAL YEAR
First quarter highlights
- Sales growth of 16.6% with 12.7% organic growth on top of strong prior year comparables.
- Solid gross margin delivery of 30.5%.
- Cost base well controlled, delivering operating margin of 10.5% (10.9% on an adjusted basis).
- Diluted earnings per share growth of 18.3% (18.0% on an adjusted basis).
- Declared quarterly dividend of $0.75, implying an increase of 9% when annualized over the prior year.
- Completed one acquisition during the quarter and two post-quarter end with aggregate annualized revenues of approximately $270 million.
- Share repurchases of $366 million during the quarter.
- Balance sheet remains strong with net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 1.0x.
FY2023 Guidance (unchanged)
- Net sales growth of low single digits driven by market outperformance and completed acquisitions
- Adjusted operating margin of 9.3% to 9.9%
- Interest expense of $170 - $190 million
- Adjusted effective tax rate of approximately 25%
- Capital expenditures of $350 - $400 million
Kevin Murphy, Ferguson CEO, commented "Our associates continued to deliver a strong performance in the first quarter, demonstrating the core strengths of Ferguson. Their focus on taking care of our customers' complex projects drove strong growth and continued market share gains. At the same time, we appropriately managed costs to position the business for macro economic headwinds. Strong cash generation in the quarter and a strong balance sheet enabled us to continue to invest for organic growth, consolidate our fragmented markets through acquisitions and return capital to shareholders.
"We remain well positioned with balanced exposure to both residential and non-residential end markets and an agile business model. Our financial guidance continues to reflect market outperformance, both organically and from acquisitions, and we remain confident in the fundamental strength of our end markets over the longer term."
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SOURCE: Ferguson PLC