If the performance of its share price is any guide, James Hardie is well and truly ex-growth in this current building cycle.
The shares are down 31% year to date, far worse than the 6% fall in the ASX 200.
Yesterday’s release of the company’s March 31 2021-22 4th quarter and full year results saw the shares slip as well – down more than 3% despite doing better (as forecast), reaffirming no change in 2022-23 guidance and a solid dividend.
Hardie reported a 20% year-on-year lift in its March quarter global net sales to $US968 million – almost reaching the $US1 billion level for the first time in quarter.
That saw global net sales for the full year up 24% from 2020-21 to $US3.6 billion.
The company reported a 42% lift in adjusted net income for the 4th quarter to $US178 million which in turn helped boost the company’s full year adjusted net income up 36% to $US621 million.
Hardie paid an unfranked first-half dividend of 40 US cents. (The 2021 financial year included a special dividend of 70 US cents).
A 30 cent per share unfranked dividend was declared yesterday.
The company reaffirmed its new financial year earnings guidance in the range of $US740 million to $US820 million. That will be up from 2021-22’s $US620.7 million.
Commenting on the results, interim James Hardie CEO Harold Wiens said he was delighted to report that the James Hardie team has continued to deliver strong execution of our global strategy.”
“This is reflected in strong Price/Mix growth in all three regions, including North America Price/Mix growth of +12%, Asia Pacific Price/Mix growth of +11% and Europe Price/Mix growth of +14%.
Wiens said “I believe our strategy, along with the depth in our world class leadership team and 5,000 committed and hard-working employees, will drive James Hardie to meet our mission of being a high-performance global company that delivers organic growth above market with strong returns.”
In commentary and briefings, Hardie revealed that it will be lifting prices of its key cement board products by 4% from June 20, taking the total increase to 9% in six months.
Hardie said that rising interest rates were not having any impact on demand and that its backlog of renovation orders was still well above previous levels.
The company warned that profit and margins will soften slightly in the June quarter (the first quarter of the new financial year) because of rising freight and pulp costs, before expanding again for the rest of the financial year as the June price rise kicks in.
The shares ended at $37.50, down 3.4% for the session.
