CSR (ASX:CSR) has reported higher profits from its building products business but a loss from aluminum for the year ending March 31, its last results as a listed company. The company is being taken over by Saint-Gobain, the large global building products group based in France, for $US4.32 billion.
CSR said that its after-tax profit before one-off items edged up 7% for the year to $240 million, while its statutory result was slightly up at $231 million from $219 million in 2022-23. The improvement came despite flat revenue performance at $2.6 billion, which saw adjusted EBITDA (before one-off items) up just 1% at $332 million.
Even though building activity worsened, especially in housing, CSR reported an 8% improvement from its building products business to $294 million on an EBIT basis. CSR said the rise reflected "strategy execution with price discipline to recover higher input costs as well as improved factory efficiency and operational performance. EBIT margin of 15.5%, up from 14.9%."
Property EBIT saw a solid rise to $91 million from $72 million following the settlement of two contracted Horsley Park sales in Sydney. CSR had already flagged these deals but the $19 million lift helped partly offset the loss in the aluminum business.
CSR said its aluminum business suffered an EBIT loss of $29 million for the 12 months because of high energy costs, compared with a profit of $8 million a year ago. CSR has a 25% holding in the Tomago aluminum smelter in the Hunter Valley region of NSW.
Because of the looming close of the takeover, CSR did not declare a final dividend. Shareholders received an interim dividend of 15 cents a share late last year.
