Fletcher released headline result figures last week. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Fletcher released headline result figures last week. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Fletcher Building won't pay a dividend and executive bonus packages were cut to zero after all divisional revenue and operating earnings fell in the last year.
Last year, the company paid 23 cents a share dividend but the company says it won't pay any for the latest year.
Australia contributed $2.8 billion gross revenue in the past year, down on last year's $3.02b.
Fletcher confirmed its $196m net loss after tax for the year to June 30, 2020, foreshadowed last week, and in a divisional performance summary, showed how important its operations across the Tasman are to producing revenue.
Barbara Chapman, chair of Fletcher's remuneration committee, noted in the annual report that short-term incentives (STI) or bonus packages were zero:
Last year the CEO and executives' STI payments ranged from 4 per cent to 146 per cent of their STI target.
"This decision was made having regard to the impacts of Covid-19, the impact of the group performance on shareholders – which included the cancellation of the FY20 interim dividend, and the critical management of cash," Chapman wrote.
The loss of bonus pay adds up to about $13m across the company.
Fletcher cited good momentum in some of its Australian operations including Laminex and insulation but a poor second half for its Tradelink and Stramit businesses with fewer larger projects in Australia. Rocla and Iplex lost about $15m, again because of fewer larger projects. Operating earnings from Australia fell from $77m to just $33m.
The weaker result reflected the impact from lockdowns in New Zealand and to a lesser extent Australia, analysts at Citi Research said while noting Fletcher anticipated market conditions to deteriorate by about 25 per cent in New Zealand and 20 per cent in Australia, with weakness to accelerate in the second half as unemployment rises.
Fletcher chief executive Ross Taylor. Photo / Jason Oxenham
The New Zealand-based distribution division, which includes the PlaceMakers national retail network, was the second-biggest revenue generator making $1.4b (previously $1.5b). Ebit from that division also fell from $167m to $87m.
Third-largest is construction earning $1.3b revenue (previously $1.7m) and recording an ebit loss of $47m compared to last year's $51m.
Building products earned $1.1b ($1.3b) with ebit of $87m ($167m) and concrete $740m ($802m) with ebit of $74m ($89m).
Full-year revenue fell from $8.3b to $7.3b. Ebit across the whole group fell from $549m to $160m and last year's $246m profit was turned into the $196m loss.
Fletcher's residential division is the second largest house-builder in New Zealand, the company said. Its work is being boosted by government support and Kiwis returning from overseas to buy homes.
A results presentation cited returning residents, low interest rates and government stimulus as supportive for its house-building work.
Meanwhile, Taylor faces a month in quarantine between next month and early next year.
He told a media briefing he would return to Sydney "where we have 5000 people - you can get quite disconnected" in late September, spending a fortnight quarantining there. He then plans to return to Auckland just after Christmas after seeing his family in Australia and acknowledged a further fortnight in quarantine was mandatory.
Taylor has already completed a fortnight quarantine in late June/early July in the three-star ibis Rotorua Hotel, marking off his days with a red X on a wall chart and working long hours.
On the dividend issue, Taylor said that was a board decision "and we've got a stated policy and they reference that and that's that we pay 50 to 75 per cent of our net after-tax profit with a reference point back to cash flow".
