It has been a difficult day for Mader Group Ltd (ASX: MAD) shareholders.
At one stage today, the ASX 300 stock was down as much as 17.5% to a 52-week low of $5.30.
This follows the release of the specialist technical services provider's full year results.
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ASX 300 stock sinks on results release
- Total revenue up 27% to a record of $774.5 million
- Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) up 32% to $99.2 million
- Net profit after tax up 31% to a record of $50.4 million
- Total dividends up 34% to 7.8 cents
What happened during the year?
For the 12 months ended 30 June, the ASX 300 stock reported a 27% lift in revenue to a record of $774.5 million. This was ahead of its guidance and driven by growth across multiple industry verticals and geographies.
And thanks to improving margins, Mader's EBITDA increased 32% to $99.2 million and net profit after tax lifted 31% to $50.4 million. This allowed the company to declare a fully franked final dividend of 4 cents per share, which brought its full year dividend to 7.8 cents per share. This is up 34% year on year.
Mader's CEO, Justin Nuich, was pleased with the 12 months. He said:
I'm proud to announce that we have exceeded our revenue and NPAT guidance targets of $770m and $50m respectively. With record results of $774.5m in revenue and $50.4m in NPAT, this achievement marks a significant milestone for our business as we enter the final two years of our current five-year strategic plan.
Our performance this financial year highlights the business' transformation into a diversified, global technical services provider. We now operate in more locations and serve a broader range of customers, across more industries than ever before.
How does this compare to expectations?
On paper, this looks like a very strong result from the ASX 300 stock. So, shareholders may be wondering why its shares are tumbling today. Let's take a look and see how this compares to what analysts are Bell Potter were expecting.
Bell Potter was forecasting sales of $790 million, EBITDA of $103 million, and net profit after tax of $53 million. As you can see above, Mader has fallen short of all these estimates.
But the real damage to its share price may be from its guidance for FY 2025, which is significantly lower than that broker was looking for.
Outlook
Management is guiding to revenue of at least $870 million and net profit after tax of at least $57 million.
This compares unfavourably to Bell Potter's estimate of $961 million and $69 million, respectively, for the 12 months.
In light of this, it isn't overly surprising to see the ASX 300 stock drop into the red today.
