LONDON -- Valve engineering firm Rotork
The business floated in 1968 with a market cap of 2 million pounds and today it boasts a valuation of 1.92 billion pounds, which is equivalent to almost 17% per annum growth. While Rotork has not totally escaped the difficult economic climate of recent years, along with an increase in productions costs, it was able to make a number of significant acquisitions in 2011, and this interim report lauded the successful integration of these into the company's wider strategy.
What's more, the company reported an 18.2% increase in order intakes, while the order book is at a record high of 177.7 million pounds -- up 13% from December.
Management is positive that the outlook continues to look good, as chief executive Peter France commented: "We continue to invest in our infrastructure, product development and sales coverage to support the longer term growth projections of the business and our continued expansion into the wider flow control market."
Shareholders in the FTSE 250 firm will be pleased by the news that basic earnings per share increased by 16.9% to 47.8 pence, while the interim dividend is being increased by 13.1% to 16.4 pence per ordinary share.
Rotork's policy of continually issuing and lifting its dividends is very similar to one U.K. company that super-investor Warren Buffett has bought into -- one that has increased its shareholder dividend every year for 28 years. To find out the name of this FTSE 100 company, click here to receive the Motley Fool's special report "The FTSE 100 Share Warren Buffett Loves" in your inbox straight away -- best of all, it's completely free!
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