Orica lifts half-year profit, dividend
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The news: Chemicals and explosives maker Orica has lifted its half-year profit on the back of strong demand and bigger share of higher margin products.
The numbers: Statutory net profit for the half year to 31 March 2024 nearly trebled to $337.5 million.
Excluding significant items, profit was still up 9.5% to $179.1 million. Revenue fell 8.5% to $3.66 billion and the company will pay an interim dividend of 19 cents a share, up from 18 cents a year ago.
The context: Orica attributed the earnings lift to strong customer demand across its divisions and increased earnings from higher value, premium technology offerings.
It now expects full-year earnings from the underlying business, excluding recent acquisitions Terra Insights and Cyanco, to be higher from the previous year and slightly better than expected at FY23 result.
CEO Sanjeev Gandhi attributed this to a stronger first-half performance, strong demand for its products and services across the mining and civil value chains in the second half and continued strong adoption of its blasting and digital technology offerings.
However, he warned that inflationary pressures, higher energy costs, supply chain disruptions and geopolitical risks remain an ongoing challenge.
The source: ASX announcement
