It had to absorb the costs of a major acquisition in the Australian market, the impact of declining building activity in Canterbury, and a dip in Wellington activity after the Kaikoura earthquake last November.
Reflecting its Australian Glass Group acquisition last September, total revenue rose 30% to $244.3million, with earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, normalised to exclude $1million of one-off expenses associated with the purchase coming in 20% higher than the previous year, at $44.9million.
The company will pay a final dividend of 4c per share, fully imputed for New Zealand shareholders, to equal total dividends in the previous year of 7.6 cents per share.
It is assessing AGG’s "short-to-medium-term capital requirements to allow it to achieve its significant potential over the medium term".
"While it is still early days for us, AGG has proved a sound investment to date," chief executive Nigel Rigby said in a statement to the NZX.
"Both sales and ebitda [came] in ahead of our expectations for the seven months to 31 March, 2017."
Seven months’ trading from AGG contributed revenue of $30.5million and ebitda of $4.7million and would have contributed $52million and ebtida of $9million, had MPG owned the asset for the whole of the financial year.
Chairman John Goulter said in statements yesterday the company was in a development investment phase that came with "some initial cost and will provide improved returns over time".
- Patrick Smellie