Smiths News Plc · LSE:SNWS
Smiths News — Q1 2025 Earnings Presentation
21 slides from Smiths News's earnings presentation, May 7, 2025
Slide 1: Interim Results
Interim Results May 2025
Slide 2: Headlines
Headlines Jon Bunting Chief Executive Officer
Slide 3: Headlines
Headlines ⚫ Good start to the financial year with FY2025 trading in line with market expectations* On track to deliver FY2025 ⚫ Improved operating profit +3.2% and ongoing strong cash flow results in line with market expectations ⚫ Continued focus on growth, with progress in all three target vertica
Slide 4: Financial Performance
Financial Performance Paul Baker Chief Financial Officer
Slide 5: Financial summary
Financial summary Adjusted (£m) H1 2025 H1 2024 Variance Revenue Reduced by 0.6% period on Revenue 536.4 539.8 (0.6%) period Adjusted operating profit 19.4 18.8 3.2% Adjusted earnings per share 5.4p 4.9p 10.2% Average bank net debt Reduced by £11.4m period on period Free cash flow 13.3 4.2 216.7% Av
Slide 6: Revenue analysis
Revenue analysis Reported decline -0.6% News and Magazines • Benefit of 2024 regional contract wins -3.1% • Underlying News and Mags in line with FY24 Contract guidance (-3.1%) wins +1.6% • Collectables performing well Collectables +4.3% • Growth initiatives +25% although small Growth in overall mix
Slide 7: Adjusted income statement
Adjusted income statement Operating profit £0.6m Adjusted (£m) H1 2025 H1 2024 higher Revenue 536.4 539.8 Driven by contract wins and collectables Operating profit 19.4 18.8 Operating margin 3.6% 3.5% Net finance charges £1.2m Net finance charges (1.7) (2.9) lower Profit before tax 17.7 15.9 Lower a
Slide 8: Free cash flow
Free cash flow £m H1 2024 H1 2024 Free cash flow £13.3m inflow Operating profit 19.4 18.8 Underlying cash flow is consistent Depreciation and amortisation 4.6 4.0 with previous years EBITDA 24.0 22.8 Working capital (2.5) (7.3) Investment spend Capex £2.3m, tech investment Capital expenditure (2.3)
Slide 9: 12 month rolling cash flow
12 month rolling cash flow Cashflow rolling 12months 2.1 H1 2023 £23m 24.2 H1 2024 £22m H1 2025 £26m Average net debt reducing £m H1 2023 £26m -12.4 H1 2024 £13m 9.0 H1 2025 £1m -4.9 Dividends (cash) H1 2024 £6.7m H2 2024 £4.1m Cash Adjusting Dividends Special Reduction H1 2025 £13.2m inflow items i
Slide 10: Strategic priorities
Strategic priorities Jon Bunting Chief Executive Officer
Slide 11: Our vision
our vision To consolidate our position as one of the UK’s leading providers of early morning end to end supply chain solutions our purpose Making our customers’ lives easier and more profitable. We provide supply chain solutions that enable them to focus on what they do best. our capabilities Proven
Slide 12: Our strategy
Our strategy ⚫ Support well-established news and magazines business, which remains resilient ⚫ Build out and expand growth into early morning market, utilising existing network and proven capabilities ⚫ £160m total market opportunity from new verticals* ⚫ Leveraging our flexible and asset-light busi
Slide 13: Continuing to leverage Smiths News' flexible, asset-light business model
⚫ News and mags revenues showed minimal decline, continuing to outperform internal expectations ⚫ Ongoing resilience of news and magazines business, with 91% of revenues secured to 2029 ⚫ Collectables bolstered trading in HY2025 ⚫ Implementing internal investment programme to strengthen core capabil
Slide 14: Recycling: decades of experience collecting and processing returns
⚫ Decades of experience collecting and processing newspaper and magazine returns ⚫ Good traction in driving uptake from existing customer base, up 5% versus £230m* FY2024 market size ⚫ Initiated a small trial to extend recycling services to non-news and 3%-5%* magazine customers along selected exist
Slide 15: Leveraging core competencies – warehousing and early morning final mile
⚫ Leveraging core competencies – warehousing and early morning final mile services - to deliver other products ⚫ Includes the delivery of books and home entertainment to multiple national supermarket chains ⚫ Investment in warehouse management system has enabled us to consolidate activities into a s
Slide 16: Uniquely positioned to offer final mile delivery in specific end markets
⚫ Uniquely positioned to offer final mile delivery in specific end markets ⚫ Entered a small-scale trial to deliver specialist engineering parts for an engineering and manufacturing supplier ⚫ Exploring multiple B2B business models 16
Slide 17: Three-year internal investment programme
Three-year internal investment programme ⚫ Investment programme commenced – seeing Smiths News increase investment to £6m per annum over the next three years to future proof the business ⚫ Seeking to optimise warehouse operations and enhance capabilities ⚫ Successful implementation of new warehouse
Slide 18: Outlook
Outlook ⚫ News and magazines business continues to underpin good performance ⚫ Growth initiatives progressing well with three new trials ongoing across identified verticals ⚫ Cost out programme continues to deliver savings to plan ⚫ Ongoing investment supports growth and news and magazines activitie
Slide 19: Any questions?
Any questions? 19
Slide 20: Cautionary statement
Cautionary statement This document contains certain forward-looking statements with respect to Smiths News plc’s financial condition, its results of operations and businesses, strategy, plans, objectives and performance. Words such as ‘anticipates’, ‘expects’, ‘intends’, ‘plans’, ‘believes’, ‘seeks’
Slide 21: Smiths
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