Shares in Cardno (CDD), the infrastructure and environmental services consultancy, dipped 3.2% yesterday after the company revealed a downgrade to its earnings guidance for the 2013-14 financial year.
The shares closed at $6.36, down 19.5c after the updated guidance was issued before trading started.
The company told the ASX yesterday that earnings per share will dip to 51.6c a share from 55.1c in 2012-13.
That was despite earnings forecast to be flat on the previous year’s net profit of $77.6 million at $77.5 million to $78.0 million.
Keeping investors happy was the company’s decision to maintain full year dividend at 36c a share – after it had paid an interim of 19c a share earlier in the year.
CDD 1Y – Cardno maintains dividend despite flat FY14
Cardno CEO Michael Renshaw said in the statement that this expected result was "broadly flat with FY13 reflecting difficult conditions across Cardno’s diverse markets in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand".
"Operating cash flow has remained strong at around $80.0 million, secured backlog of contracted work has strengthened considerably to $790 million and the current pipeline of prospective projects is strong in the Americas, Australia and New Zealand," he said.
The company blamed the flat result to cuts to spending in Australia and New Zealand by customers, especially in the mining and resource sectors. Returns from businesses in other parts of the world, including the US, were above expectations, Mr Renshaw said.
The flat result was also brought about by the cuts to staffing levels earlier in the year with more than 200 people being cut, which resulted in redundancy costs of $1.7 million.
