The engineering company had earlier this year flagged a 70% jump in net profit after tax to $A15 million, but beat its expectations after posting a $16 million profit for the six months to the end of December.
Revenues totalled a record $388 million, up 17% from the previous corresponding period.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation were up 42% to a record $19.3 million.
RCRC said the results were underpinned from improvements in underlying operating margins to 5%, up from 4.1%.
“Our performance has been driven by a well-balanced order book, which included growth in both recurring and major projects revenues, in particular RCR’s work on Fortescue’s Solomon project, Newcrest’s Cadia operations and BHP’s Yarmina project,” RCR managing director Paul Dalgleish said.
Throughout the period, the company was included on the S&P/ASX 300 index, which the company labelled a major milestone.
With a well-balanced order book of $465 million and cash on hand of $53.5 million, the board has declared an interim dividend of 2.5c per share, fully franked, up 25% from the previous corresponding period.
The company has retained a positive outlook, with revenues expected to remain robust throughout this financial year and into 2014.
However, the company did not shed any light on FY13 earnings guidance.
“RCR remains well positioned, with a strong balance sheet and solid order book to continue to grow in line with our strategy,” Dalgleish said.
Commenting on the results, Patersons Securities analyst Graeme Carson said reported operating cash flow was marginally below its forecast, but said its slightly stronger than forecast margins were a mild positive surprise.
“The operating environment remains challenging on the whole, but management spoke of opportunities emerging in the iron ore sector,” Carson said.
RCR’s strong financial position, management credibility and contribution from large contracts to underwrite performance have prompted Patersons to retain its buy recommendation for the company.
Patersons’ DCF-based valuation of $2.59 remains unchanged.
Shares in RCR fell 2.6% to $2.22 at yesterday’s close and remained unchanged this morning.
