The Aggreko Board withdrew its recommendation to pay the 2019 final dividend at its AGM in April and will not be revisiting this decision. However, given its confidence that the actions that the Group has taken, together with the continued, disciplined execution of its strategy, will increase further the resilience of the business and position it well for the future, the Board has approved the payment of an interim dividend of 5 pence per share for 2020. The reduction on the prior year does not represent a change in the Group's dividend policy, but rather reflects lower current year earnings and a continued level of market uncertainty.
Other financial highlights include:
Underlying Group revenue down 12% driven by the impact of COVID-19 and the lower oil price
Underlying operating profit of £64 million (down 15%) and profit before tax of £47 million (down 13%)
- Rental Solutions underlying operating profit of £44 million (69% of Group), down 7% driven by oil and gas where revenue was down 32%
- Power Solutions Industrial underlying operating profit of £11 million (16% of Group), down 45% primarily driven by a more challenging trading environment in Eurasia
- Power Solutions Utility underlying operating profit of £9 million (15% of Group), up 9% driven by cost saving initiatives
Strong liquidity and cash position:
- Operating cash inflow of £250 million supported by a working capital inflow of £100 million, resulting from a continued focus on cash collections
- Immediately available liquidity of over £700 million, including cash on hand of £123 million
- Net debt of £499 million, a reduction of £285 million on June 2019, representing net debt to EBITDA of 0.9 times (2019: 1.5 times)
