Stobart drives into profit in first half

22nd Oct 2015 14:55

(ShareCast News) - Stobart Group swung to a profit in the third quarter and posted a jump in underlying core earnings thanks to growth in its energy division.For the six months ended 31 August , the company posted a pre-tax profit of £600,000 compared with a £8.6m loss in the first half of last year.Underlying earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 3.4% from the same period last year to £9m, as revenue from continuing operations remained flat at £57.6m.During the period, revenue in the company's energy division rose 8.8% despite several planned closures at two customer plants due to unscheduled maintenance.The company proposed an interim dividend of 2p, unchanged from last year.Chief executive Andrew Tinkler said: "We have continued to focus primarily on delivering value in our two high growth divisions of Energy and Aviation, and we are progressing well with building the infrastructure and relationships to successfully develop these businesses."Stobart said other divisions are performing well, with a strong order pipeline in the rail business, growing profitability in Investments and realising cash from property sales.The support services and infrastructure group said it was on track with current work and secured future contracts to exceed its target of supplying 2m tonnes of biomass fuel per year by 2018.At 1508 BST, Stobart shares were down 0.9% at 110.95p.