Plexus hikes dividend after record annual results

Plexus boss Ben van Bilderbeek with the firm's Python wellhead

The board of the Aberdeen-based firm, which has developed its Pos-Grip wellhead system with the aim of preventing the type of blowout behind the 2010 Gulf of Mexico disaster that killed 11 people, proposed a final dividend of 1.75p a share to be paid on 16 December – an increase of 182 per cent on last year’s 0.62p payout.

The move came as Aim-quoted Plexus posted a 10.5 per cent rise in pre-tax profits to £5.9 million for the year to the end of June, on revenues 5.6 per cent higher at £28.5m.

Chief executive Ben van Bilderbeek said the record performance was “all the more impressive as it has been achieved during what has been, and continues to be, a difficult trading cycle for the global oil and gas sector, driven by the significant fall in the oil price and related geopolitical circumstances”.

He added: “Despite the challenging backdrop, the year under review has been a transformational one for Plexus in terms of new strategic and product developments. We continue to develop the company into a leading international wellhead engineering company supplying the best in class and safest wellhead equipment across exploration, production and subsea arenas.”

Last week Plexus appointed a president for North America as it seeks to grow its business on the other side of the Atlantic, and said Lawrence Rucinski’s experience in the subsea sector would be “invaluable” following last month’s launch of its Python subsea wellhead.