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Announcement of unaudited results for the year ended 31 December 2009

19/02/2010

			2009		2008
			£m		£m
Revenue			1,659.2		1,887.0		(12.1%)
Adjusted operating profit1			125.6		211.2		(40.5%)
Adjusted profit before tax2			126.0		213.2		(40.9%)
Profit before tax			92.7		197.7		(53.1%)
Cash flow from operations			171.5		159.5		+7.5%
Net cash			50.9		51.8		(1.5%)
			pence		pence
Earnings per share	Adjusted2		55.0		99.2		(44.6%)
	Basic		38.1		90.1		(57.7%)
Dividend per share	Second interim		14.5		14.0		+3.6%
	Total for the year		21.5		21.0		+2.4%

¹ before amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles and goodwill, acquisition costs and exceptional items
² before amortisation and impairment of acquired intangibles and goodwill, acquisition costs, exceptional items, net financing charge on retirement benefit obligations and gains/(losses)on retranslation of intercompany loan balances

• Adjusted earnings per share of 55.0 pence
• Operating cash flow of £171.5 million
• Proposed second interim dividend of 14.5 pence per share, making a total for the year of 21.5 pence (2008: 21.0 pence), an increase of 2.4 per cent
• ESAB operating profit (before exceptional items) of £64.5 million, taking into account over £50 million of cost savings
• Howden operating profit (before exceptional items) of £70.5 million and margin of 11.2 per cent
• Howden year-end order book of £441 million
• Balance sheet remains strong with net assets of £550 million and net cash of £51 million

Michael Foster, Chief Executive, commented:

“2009 was a challenging year during which Charter acted quickly and resolutely to ensure both ESAB and Howden addressed the challenges of recession and dislocation in the financial markets, whilst continuing to invest in both businesses and to position them for future growth.

We believe that the worst of the recession is behind us but the recovery is expected to be uneven across the many different regions in which Charter operates. ESAB is well positioned to benefit from any recovery in steel consumption and, whilst we expect Howden’s results in 2010 to be a little softer than 2009, we expect growth to resume in 2011.

Our decision to propose an increased dividend reflects Charter’s robust performance in 2009, its strong balance sheet and the Board’s confidence that both ESAB and Howden will make further progress in 2010.”

The financial results set out in this announcement are unaudited. Audited accounts will be published following clarification of matters that the Company has recently discovered relating to the possibility that irregular payments may have been made in connection with an attempt to obtain business by an overseas Howden subsidiary in an emerging market. The Company has immediately commenced an investigation to determine the nature and extent of the issue and the financial results set out herein may be adjusted in the audited accounts of the Company to reflect the findings of that investigation. Accordingly, the Company's auditors are not at this stage in a position to approve these financial results or to finalise the audit and these results do not constitute a preliminary statement of the Company's annual results.

Cautionary statement

Certain sections of this announcement contain forward looking statements that are subject to risk factors associated with, amongst other things, the economic and business circumstances occurring from time to time in the countries and sectors in which the Company and its subsidiaries and associates operate. It is believed that the expectations reflected in this announcement are reasonable but they may be affected by a wide range of variables which could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently anticipated.

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