The following is a Company Announcement by Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (the “Company”) pursuant to the Malta Financial Services Authority Listing Rules Chapter 5.
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The Board of Directors of Simonds Farsons Cisk plc (the "Company has on Wednesday, 27th May 2020 met and approved the Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements of the Company and the Group for the year ended 31st January 2020 (FY 2020), and resolved to propose the same for the approval of the shareholders at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting of the Company to be held on a date yet to be confirmed.
The Board of Directors has also authorised for publication the said Annual Report and Consolidated Financial Statements for FY 2020, which is attached herewith and is available to the public on http://www.farsons.com/en/financial-statements.
In terms of Listing Rule 5.16.24, the Directors report that during the year under review, the Group's profit before taxation fell short of the projections for FY 2020 as contained in the Financial Analysis Summary dated 15th July 2019 (the "FAS") by 12.1%. As explained in the review of trading performance set out in the Directors’ Report, this variance was principally caused by (a) gross margin compression and (b) an increase of €668,000 in the required impairment provision relating to trade debtor receivable balances. The Group's profit after taxation fell short of the FAS projections by 19.6%. The principal reason for the increase in the shortfall beyond the 12.1% referred to above was that in FY 2020 it was not thought appropriate to add to the deferred tax asset in view of the reduced profits reported in FY 2020 and the significantly lower profit expectations for FY 2021. In FY 2019 deferred tax assets were increased by €2.3 million.
An interim net dividend of €1,000,000, that is €0.0333 per ordinary share was approved at the Board Meeting held on 25th September 2019 and distributed to shareholders on 16th October 2019. In view of the impact on the business of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the uncertainty caused by the lack of forward visibility concerning the timing of any amelioration of the current crisis and any recovery therefrom, the Board of Directors does not consider it appropriate at this time to recommend the payment of a final dividend to the forthcoming Annual General Meeting.
Therefore, the total net dividend settled in cash to the ordinary shareholders relating to the financial year ended 31st January 2020 amounted to €1,000,000, (2019: €4,000,000) that is €0.0333 (2019: €0.1333) per ordinary share.
As stated in the Company Announcement issued on 24th April 2020, the Annual General Meeting of the Company had provisionally been scheduled to be held on 25th June 2020. However, in view of the current COVID-19 restrictions it may not be possible to hold the meeting on that date. A further Company Announcement will be issued concerning the fixing of a date for the Annual General Meeting as soon as it is practicable to do so.
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Antoinette Caruana
Company Secretary