The pace of global recovery post COVID has certainly been curtailed with the new macroeconomic headwinds stemming from, and particularly impacting Europe. These factors remain a concern for all businesses, however the Group will remain focused on preserving earnings and cash generation by carefully managing the inflationary cost environment as well as the availability of raw materials – working both on the passthrough of input costs as well as pursuing its cost control program. Management is committed to protecting margins and with the Group’s diverse business offerings across geographies, CIEL remains confident that the current profitability momentum will continue.
Group Revenue increased by MUR 10.6 bn to reach MUR 28.5 bn at year end, a 60% increase on the prior year. This was driven by the sustained growth achieved in the Textile, Finance and Healthcare clusters, 48%, 20% and 19% respectively. The remarkable turnaround in the Hotels & Resorts cluster, since its gradual reopening in October 2021, was commendable as they achieved revenue of MUR 4.8 bn up from MUR 528M in the prior year.
Earnings Before Interest, Taxation, Depreciation, Amortisation and Impairment (“EBITDA”) increased over 100% year on year, a MUR 2.7 bn increase to MUR 5.0 bn. This led to high double-digit margins across clusters leading to a Group EBITDA margin of 17.8%, up from 13.5% in the year ended 30 June 2021.
In brief, the situation is:
- Excellent financial performance with profitability significantly above pre-COVID years
- Well-diversified portfolio and ongoing focus on margin protection led to an EBITDA margin of 17.8% (2021: 0%)
- Profit after tax increased nearly five-fold to reach MUR 2.2 bn with all clusters back to profitability Earnings per share more than doubled to reach MUR 77 (2021: MUR 0.37)
- Final dividend of MUR 0.16 cents per share declared on 29 June 2022, bringing the total dividend for the year to MUR 21 cents per share back to the pre-COVID level
- Positive cash flow generation allowed for higher capital expenditure and working capital requirements, as Free Cash Flow increased by 65% to reach MUR 6 bn
- Strong balance sheet enhanced by strict financial discipline with Net debt reduced by MUR 1 bn to
- reach MUR 1 bn, bringing the Group’s gearing ratio to 33.2% down from 39.0% in the prior year
- Confidence maintained in the Group’s business model and long-term growth potential, underpinned by proven track record of execution
At Company level, the total portfolio value has increased by 29%. The total portfolio value was positively impacted by the increase in value of all the underlying clusters of the Group namely:
