
DIPLOMA PLC ANNUAL REPORT 2023
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39
Strategic Review Corporate Governance Financial Statements Other Information
Interest payments increased by
£9.0m to £17.9m (2022: £8.9m) in
line with increased interest charges.
Tax payments increased by £2.2m to
£41.4m (2022: £39.2m) with the cash
tax rate reducing to 19% (2022: 22%)
due to the timing of tax payments.
Our effective cash tax rate remains
lower than our Group effective
tax rate, mainly due to acquisition
goodwill which is deductible for
US tax purposes.
Capital expenditure increased by
£16.1m, largely driven by scaling
investments in Shoal Group,
Hercules Aftermarket and R&G.
FY22 benefitted from £9.9m of
proceeds from disposal of property,
plant and equipment.
The Group funded the Company’s
Employee Benefit Trust with £1.9m
(2022: £2.8m) in connection with the
Company’s long term incentive plan.
The Group received net proceeds
of£231.9m from an equity raise
completed in March 2023, to enable
the refinancing of the acquisition of
T.I.E., and provide greater flexibility
to execute further acquisitions.
Dividends of £70.8m (2022: £56.4m)
were paid to ordinary and minority
interest shareholders.
This strong free cash generation has
allowed the Group to deleverage
more quickly than expected.
At30September 2023, the Group’s
NetDebt (excluding IFRS 16 lease
liabilities) stood at £254.7m
(2022:£328.9m).
ACQUISITIONS ACCELERATE
GROWTH
In fragmented markets, we
deploy capital selectively and
with discipline, to acquire quality
businesses which accelerate
strategic execution; build scale;
broaden our portfolio; and
accelerate organic growth.
Net cash flow from acquisitions and
disposals of £255.3m, which includes
£6.0m of acquisition fees, comprises
the spend for DICSA of £159.7m and
T.I.E. of £75.1m; £23.7m principally
relating to ten smaller bolt-on
businesses; and £12.3m of deferred
consideration relating to previous
acquisitions; partly offset by net
proceeds of £21.5m from the
disposal of Hawco, a lower growth,
lower margin business.
The Group’s acquisition liabilities to
shareholders of acquired businesses
at 30 September 2023 reduced
to£22.6m (2022: £31.4m) and
comprised both put options to
purchase outstanding minority
shareholdings and deferred
consideration payable to vendors
of businesses acquired during the
current and prior years.
• The liability to acquire minority
shareholdings outstanding
relates to a 10% interest held in
MSeals, 5% interest in Techsil,
a 2% interest in R&G and a 5%
interest in Pennine Pneumatic
Services. These options are valued
at £9.2m (2022: £7.4m), based
onthe latest estimate of EBIT
whenthese options crystallise.
• The liability for deferred
consideration payable at
30 September 2023 was £13.4m
(2022: £24.0m). This liability
represents the best estimate of
any outstanding payments based
on the expected performance
of these relevant businesses
during the measurement period.
The reduction in the year is
primarily due to the revaluation
and settlement of deferred
consideration for Kungshusen
andR&G.
Goodwill at 30 September 2023
was£439.1m (2022: £372.3m).
Goodwill is assessed each year
todetermine whether there has
beenany impairment in the carrying
value. It was confirmed that there
was significant headroom on
thevaluation of this goodwill,
compared with the carrying
valueatthe year end.
ATTRACTIVE RETURNS
ROATCE is a key metric used to
measure our success in creating
value for shareholders. It is a metric
that drives ongoing capital and
operating discipline, adding back
amortised intangibles and other
factors such as any impaired
goodwill such that any improvement
must be driven by true economic
factors. As at 30 September 2023,
the Group’s ROATCE increased by
80basis points to 18.1% (2022:
17.3%). This increase was primarily
driven by strong operating profit
growth from the existing businesses,
but was supplemented by the
bolt-on acquisitions completed
during the year which generate
year1returns of 20%. This increase
inROATCE was delivered despite
thedilutive impact of the DICSA
andT.I.E. acquisitions which, when
acquired with a combined 9x EBIT
multiple, naturally constrain year one
returns. We expect both of these
acquisitions to reach 20% returns
over the medium term.
IMPROVED FUNDING
On 17 July 2023, the Group entered
into a new committed multi-currency
revolving credit facility agreement
(RCF) with an aggregate principal
amount of £555.0m. The RCF is
dueto expire in July 2028 with an
option to extend for two further
12month periods. The RCF
replacedthe Group's previous
debtfacility agreement which as
at30 September 2022 comprised
anRCF with an aggregate principal
amount of £359.7m, an amortising
term loan for an aggregate principal
amount of £114.2m ($127.5m), a bullet
term loan for an aggregate principal
amount of £59.1m ($66.0m) and
afurther bullet term loan for
anaggregate principal amount
of£45.3m.
At 30 September 2023, net
debtof£254.7m (2022: £328.9m)
represented leverage of 0.9x
(2022:1.4x) against a banking
covenant of 3.5x (2022: 3.0x).
TheGroup maintains strong liquidity,
with year end headroom (comprised
of undrawn committed facilities and
cash funds) of £297m (2022: £204m).