Facility service provider Spotless Group has ‘seen its shares surge 5 per cent after its guidance for the full year allayed downbeat expectations around the company’, reported The Australian on 24 August 2016.
The cleaning and catering business released its results for the last 12 months yesterday on 24 August 2016, which showed ‘a 14 per cent decline in net profit to $122 million, despite a 10.6 per cent lift in revenue to $3.18 billion’.
The Australian’s journalist Daniel Palmer observed that ‘the number was broadly in line with guidance and market expectations’, while operating cash flow and net debt readings fell shy of market projections.
Spotless chair Margaret Jackson said that “the issues that forced a profit downgrade last December were now in the rear-view mirror”.
“The short-term issues outlined in the December trading update and reflected in this result have been resolved,” she stated.
“Strong financial discipline was required to meet guidance and we continue to undertake significant action to improve overall business performance and profitability.”
The newspaper noted that ‘the company declared confidence about improvement through FY2017, but stopped short of offering specific targets’.
“Spotless is confident in the strength of the underlying business and that the pipeline of opportunities support restimulation of organic growth,” said the company.
“However, the rate of growth will be driven by the success and timing of the strategy reset initiatives, particularly the returns from the recent investment in business development resources.”