Barrow-in-Furness marine engineering firm James Fisher and Sons plc said its 2024 revenue increased by 8.6% to £406 million, adjusted for the impact of disposals and business closures.
Overall, underlying revenue declined by 11.8% to £437.7 million while underlying profit before tax rose 43.4% to £11.9 million.
James Fisher and Sons CEO Jean Vernet said: “I am encouraged by our 2024 performance, ending the year in a stronger financial position and with our business better positioned to take advantage of supportive end markets.
“We delivered underlying operating profit in line with our upgraded expectations and have significantly deleveraged the group.
“The disposals provided funds to pay down our debt, re-finance our facilities on improved terms and strengthened our balance sheet as a result – providing a stable platform for growth with a more resilient capital structure.
“As we complete the second year of our business turnaround, I am pleased with the implementation of the One James Fisher model. We have an aligned organisation that can capitalise on our collective strength, with world-leading capabilities that will help us generate sustainable growth.
“As we move into the next chapter of the turnaround, we will continue to utilise our people, expertise and innovation to address our customers’ biggest challenges, across the geographies in which we operate.
“February 2025 year-to-date trading was in line with management expectations. Subject to geopolitical uncertainties, the Board remains confident on delivering further progress this year, working towards our medium-term financial targets of 10% underlying operating profit margin and 15% ROCE.”
James Fisher said an ordinary dividend “will be reinstated at the appropriate time, when we can provide shareholders with a predictable annual return reflective of the group’s progress.”
In its outlook, the firm said: “Conditions remain supportive in most of our end markets, and while we are mindful of the near-term geopolitical and macro-economic uncertainty, we remain committed to delivering our ambition.
“We will continue to monitor emerging risks and their potential impact on global operations. February year-to-date trading was in line with management expectations and subject to geopolitical uncertainty, the Board remains confident on delivering further progress this year.
“We expect geopolitical uncertainty and energy security risk to increase in the medium-term. Our focus is on where we have the greatest opportunity to differentiate and accelerate our offering to customers in response to the macro environment – mostly within Energy and Defence verticals.
“Our focus for 2025 is to deliver on the next chapter of our business turnaround, progressing on a path towards our UOP strategic target of 10% and our ROCE target of 15%, through a combination of further self-help, improved business unit performance, supply chain integration and revenue recovery for the Defence Division.”