MHM Automation announces special dividend after record year – Scoop.co.nz

Wednesday, 8 September 2021, 12:29 pmPress Release: MHM Automation

New Zealand Listed Company MHM Automation today announcedits decision to pay shareholders a special dividend of 1.5cents per share.

Continued growth in global demand forautomated solutions and the sale of its New Plymouthworkshop saw the company report a strong financialperformance at the release of its 2021 financial results andAnnual Report last month.

MHM Automation reported anafter-tax profit of $4.1 million, which was a 339% increaseon the previous years result. Revenue for the year was$50.9m, a 6.1% increase on 2020, and the full year EBITDAincreased by 50% to $3.73m. The growth was primarily drivenby a strong performance from its Milmeq chilling andfreezing business as well as a one-off gain of $1.9 millionfrom the sale of its New Plymouth engineeringworkshop.

This performance would not have beenpossible without the support of our shareholders. The boardof directors considers it appropriate to pay the one-offdividend to shareholders in recognition of the strongtrading performance weve had over the last year. Thefunds for this dividend are coming from the proceeds of thesale of the New Plymouth property, CEO Richard Rookessaid.

I am pleased to see the momentum weve beenbuilding over the past few years continue and we remainedfocused on strengthening our automation business while alsoimproving profitability, he added.

MHM Automationservices the global dairy, meat, horticulture and foodprocessing sectors.

Rookes said the COVID-19 pandemichad meant its customers were increasingly looking toautomation to ease the challenges of social distancing andensure compliance with food safety standards, as well asaddressing labour shortages and health and safety concerns.But delivering projects during the pandemic had beenchallenging, due to resource constraints and restrictions oninternational travel, particularly the MIQsystem.

Achieving this high level of performance ina COVID-19 world is testament to our team, and the strengthand relevance of the products and solutions we design anddeliver, he said.

Looking ahead, MHM Automation isforecasting good workflows right through the 2022 financialyear and beyond. The automation business has ordersscheduled for delivery into 2023, and all areas of thebusiness are running at or near capacity for the remainderof the 2021 calendar year.

The company remainscognisant of opportunities for additional futureacquisitions to align with its technology-ledfuture.

Demand for automated solutions is forecast tocontinue to increase.

With our portfolio ofindustry-leading solutions, we are well positioned tocontinue our trend of growth. The next 12 months will befocused on the execution of current work, improving margins,and building a sustainable pipeline of new opportunitiesglobally, Rookessaid.

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MHM Automation announces special dividend after record year - Scoop.co.nz