The Cimic Group Ltd (ASX: CIM) share price is up 1.6% to $46.61 today after the construction giant handed in its profit report for the year ending December 31 2018. Below is a summary of the results with comparisons to 2017.
- Net profit of $781m, up 11%
- Revenue of $14.7b, up 9%
- Cash flow from operating activities of $1.9b
- Gross debt of $523m
- Net cash position of $1.6b, up $709m
- Order book worth $36.7b
- Earnings per share of $2.40
- Final fully franked dividend of 86cps, up 15%
- 2019 net profit guidance of $790m to $840m
The Cimic share price is up around 4% over the past year and the global construction group has delivered a decent year's growth to investors while strengthening its balance sheet.
It also boasts it will bid on around $130 billion worth of tenders in 2019, with an additional $300 billion worth of projects coming to market in 2020 and beyond.
In other words the outlook is solid thanks to the wider health of the global economy and continued public or private investments in large infrastructure or construction projects.
Cimic trades on 20x trailing earnings per share and offers a 3.3% trailing yield plus franking credits to offer moderate value if you buy into its growth outlook. It has also returned more than $2 billion to investors via dividends and buybacks between 2015 to 2018.
