Korvest announced that revenue was up almost 7% on last FY, profits up 110% and a final dividend of 13c per share.
The infrastructure spend by governments was the main reason for the improved results, and management advise the infrastructure sector remains strong and the outlook positive over the next few years.
The EzyStrut business did the best of the lot servicing the major infrastructure projects, as well as smaller projects and day to day stuff. A NSW/VIC based competitor left the market in April 2019 so management believe this will mean more opportunities for EzyStrut going forward. Power Strut and Titan Technology businesses had a poor year.
Galvanising had a static year, with lower volumes offset by price increases. Zinc is more expenses, as are domestic gas prices which increased input costs, and they invested in energy efficiency and solar panels to reduce electricity expenses. Sounds like they're really concentrating on improving efficiency in this business.
The group will continue to focus on supporting the big infrastructure projects in Australia and try to win more project work here.
The balance sheet shows $3.1M in cash and no debt. There was a fairly big increase in receivables ($9.9M to $14M) and inventories ($9.3M to $10.5M) over the year so may be something to watch at next HY report. Operating cash flow dropped as a result from $5.1M in 2018 to $1.4M this year. Capex more than doubled to $1.6M. So cash spent on investing activities exceeded operating cash flow this year.
