The Asaleo Care Ltd (ASX: AHY) share price ended 3.69% higher today after the ASX consumer staples company released its full-year FY19 results this morning.
Asaleo Care is a leading Australian personal care and hygiene company which is behind well-known brands such as Libra and Tork. The company has manufacturing and distribution facilities throughout Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
What did Asaleo Care announce?
For FY19, Asaleo Care generated underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $82.4 million and a statutory net profit after tax of $22.1 million.
Whilst the company's reported underlying EBITDA reflects growth of 1.1%, after adjusting for the lease accounting change in FY19, the company noted that this metric actually declined by 11%.
Asaleo Care explained this was primarily a result of a major step-change in brand investment with increased advertising and trade promotional activity. In addition, the decline was driven by increased product costs, notably from energy, insurance and foreign exchange.
Nonetheless, this FY19 EBITDA result was within the underlying EBITDA guidance previously provided of between $80 million to $85 million.
A final FY19 unfranked dividend of 2 cents per share was declared by the company today, with a record date of 6 March 2020. In contrast, no dividend was declared in FY18.
Retail and B2B business
Revenue growth in the retail segment was up by 4.7% to $198.6 million. The company noted that volume and value growth was delivered across all categories except its New Zealand Baby business.
Retail EBITDA in the segment, however, was down at $35.6 million due to increased investment in brand advertising, shopper promotional activity and increased input costs.
Asaleo Care's B2B segment delivered strong revenue growth of 2.8% on the pcp, primarily due to increased sales of high margin, and proprietary systems in its Professional Hygiene business. Full-year revenue growth was up 1.6% to $221.6 million for the division.
Commenting on the results, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Sid Takla said:
"The business has returned to revenue growth, up 3%, which was achieved across both our business segments: Retail and B2B. I am pleased with our Company's progress, which has enabled us to reinvest for future growth. This result demonstrates that putting the needs of our customers and consumers first delivers results."
