Charter can trace its history back to 1889, when The British South Africa Company was formed and takes its name from the Royal Charter granted by Queen Victoria to the company in that year.
In 1965, Charter Consolidated was established by the merger of three British mining, finance and investment companies - The British South Africa Company, The Central Mining & Investment Corporation Limited and The Consolidated Mines Selection Company Limited. The merged company's assets comprised mainly of mining investments and its strategy was to develop as a mining finance house actively engaged in mineral exploration and the development of mines throughout the world. Various companies within the Anglo American Corporation of South Africa have held an interest in Charter Consolidated shares.
From 1979, Charter Consolidated placed increased emphasis on the development of its British based industrial operations, resulting in the disposal of investments in South Africa and other countries outside Europe and the acquisition of investment interests in Europe, including a 28 per cent investment in Johnson Matthey. Over the following years, Charter Consolidated made further acquisitions in the industrial field which were largely in mining equipment manufacture, open-cast coal mining and quarrying.
Charter plc was created in August 1993 following a reconstruction of Charter Consolidated. On its creation, Charter had investments in a diverse range of companies spanning a variety of activities. A new strategy for Charter to focus on fewer but larger businesses was agreed by the then board. In 1994, Charter acquired ESAB, a world leader in welding and cutting, and subsequently, in April 1997, Charter acquired Howden Group, a leader in air and gas handling equipment.
Over the last decade, there has been sustained investment in both businesses, which has re-affirmed their world leading positions in their respective markets. Both businesses have increased the geographic scope of their operations, such that both businesses currently derive approximately one-half of their revenue from emerging markets.
On 22 October 2008, Charter International plc, which is registered in Jersey and has its headquarters and tax residence in the Republic of Ireland, became the new holding company of Charter plc.
Charter's five-year record, up to 31 December 2010, is summarised below:
| 20062 £m |
2007 £m |
2008 £m |
2009 £m |
2010 £m |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | 1257.9 | 1451.1 | 1887.0 | 1659.2 | 1719.6 |
| Adjusted operating profit | 144.6 | 173.8 | 211.2 | 125.6 | 145.9 |
| Adjusted profit before tax | 145.8 | 181.1 | 213.2 | 126.0 | 148.2 |
| Adjusted earnings per share1 | 68.1p | 84.7p | 99.2p | 55.0p | 66.1p |
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1 Amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles and goodwill, exceptional items and exchange gains and losses on retranslation of intercompany loans (including attributable tax and minority interests) are excluded from the calculations of adjusted earnings per share. For 2009 and 2010, acquisition costs and the non-cash net financing costs attributable to retirement benefit obligations have also been excluded in calculating adjusted earnings per share as these amounts do not relate to underlying business performance. The impact on 2008 is not significant. Previous years have not been restated.
2 The 2006 results have been restated to reflect the change in accounting policy in 2007 to recognise actuarial gains and losses arising on employee benefits in full.