Arundel is producing positive cash flow and has increased the dividend, but this is primarily from the
proceeds of reducing assets. The reduction in non-current assets in particular could be problematic for an
investor as this could damage future cash flows and hence impact on the tradable value of shares.
Whilst Arundel has purchased £150k of new non-current assets, this compares to cash received from
disposal of non-current assets of £1.1m. Thus overall the asset base of the company has decreased,
which is liable to lead to an increase in financial risk for an investor.
Reducing inventory and accounts receivable produced £0.5m cash, increasing current liabilities generated
a further £100k. Whilst this could be down to better management of working capital, it could also be an
attempt by management to squeeze cash out of working capital to compensate for poor trading
performance (see below) and hence keep the dividend up.
Borrowings were reduced and there was no buy back of shares, so gearing has reduced resulting in some
reduction in financial risk.
Whilst there is a positive cash flow from operations, Arundel made a significant trading loss in 2014. This
indicates that the trading condition for the company has deteriorated from the prior year and again is an
indicator of increased financial risk. The increase in dividend is not supported by the trading performance,
so there is some indication that the Directors may be seeking to maintain dividends to support the share
price.
Overall 2013 looked more healthy, with a good trading profit and much higher cash from operating activities.
This appears to have been primarily invested in expansion activity, with £3.7m cash spent on non-current
assets. It is possible that this was an overexpansion with some element of retrenchment in 2014.
Overall a potential investor would typically look for a higher return from shares now than a year ago to
compensate for the increased financial risk.