2024-03-05 14:14:10 ET
Intertek Group plc (IKTSF)
Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call
March 05, 2024 05:00 AM ET
Company Participants
André Lacroix - Chief Executive Officer
Colm Deasy - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Rory McKenzie - UBS
Carl Raynsford - Berenberg
Pablo Cuadrado - Kepler Cheuvreux
Geoffroy Michalet - ODDO BHF
Sylvia Barker - JPMorgan
Suhasini Varanasi - Goldman Sachs
Arthur Truslove - Citi
Presentation
Operator
Good day, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Intertek 2023 results. [Operator Instructions] I would like to remind all participants that this call is being recorded. Questions will follow after the presentation.
I will now hand over to André Lacroix to start the presentation. Thank you.
André Lacroix
Good morning, and welcome to you all. In 2023, we have delivered a strong performance in revenue, margin, EPS, cash and ROIC. And I would like to start our call today recognizing all of my colleagues around the world of Intertek for their incredible support.
Indeed, 2023 marks another year of consistent delivery with earnings slightly ahead of market expectations. Here are the key takeaways for our call today. First, we have delivered the highest like-for-like performance in the last 10 years, something that we are tremendously proud of. Profit conversion was strong with a margin improvement of 60 basis points at constant currency. We have delivered the highest ever cash from operation. We are on track to deliver our medium-term margin target of 17.5% plus.
Given our confidence in the significant value growth opportunity ahead, we are increasing our dividend payout to circa 65% and importantly, we expect to deliver a robust financial performance in 2024.
So let's start with our performance highlights. As I just said, we've delivered a strong financial performance in 2023. Our group revenue was up 7.1% at constant rate and 4.3% at actual rate. Like-for-like revenue growth was 6.2% at constant rate. Operating profit was up 11% at constant rate and 6% at actual rate. Operating margin was robust at 16.6%, 60 basis points up on last year.
Our EPS growth were double-digit 11% at constant rate. We've delivered a very strong ROIC of 20.5%, up 250 bps. We've announced a full year dividend of 111.7p, up year-on-year by 5.6%. And our balance sheet remains very strong. Our net debt-to-EBITDA ratio is 0.8....
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Intertek Group plc (IKTSF) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript