The Tassal Group Limited (ASX: TGR) share price has been one of the best performers on the local market today with a 5% gain to $4.00 following the release of its full-year results.
Here are key highlights from the salmon producer's release:
- Revenue increased 4.5% to $450.5 million.
- Statutory EBITDA rose 17.7% to $114.6 million.
- Statutory NPAT jumped 19.8% to $58.1 million.
- Earnings per share of 37.3 cents.
- Final dividend of 7.5 cents per share fully franked, bringing its full-year dividend to 15 cents.
- Outlook: Management expects Tassal to continue its growth trajectory and generate increased revenues and operational earnings in FY 2018.
Overall I thought this was a solid result from Tassal and I'm not at all surprised to see its shares charge higher during today's trade.
After all, based on today's result, Tassal's shares are changing hands at just 11x earnings. In my opinion this is cheap given its current growth profile, even for a company in the agriculture sector.
The strong result was largely driven by the success of its strategic initiatives. This included keeping fish in the water for longer in order to optimise growth and deliver enhanced margins. Overall, management managed the company's sales mix to maximise returns and deliver strong earnings growth.
Pleasingly, an increase in underlying salmon biomass has been achieved and this is expected to put the company in a strong position to grow at a strong and sustainable rate in FY 2018.
Should you invest?
As I said at the top, I think Tassal's shares are great value for money at the moment and would pick them ahead of rivals Clean Seas Seafood Ltd (ASX: CSS) and Huon Aquaculture Group Ltd (ASX: HUO).
Furthermore, not only are its shares cheap but they provide a trailing fully franked 3.8% dividend. In my opinion this makes Tassal a great mix of growth, value, and income.
