They went over the top with the first half special div, now they have had to cut back the final to 1c which does not impress anyone.
They should have kept the 4c special up their sleeve & maybe paid another 4c as final. They would have kept a bit more cash in the bank & I think a total 8c div paid 4 & 4 would have been much better received than a 9c div paid 8 & 1 as they have done - hindsight is a big advantage but I do think this problem was foreseeable to a large extent.
In general though a solid full year result, drop in margins is expected in the current market and they have done a good job controlling opex/overhead, I expected a significantly higher increase in costs.
The 2024 capex should be significantly lower than 2023 as the $35M systems spend should be non-recurrent so that bodes well.
All in all a solid albeit not particularly exciting result, here's hoping they can continue this performance in what currently is a rather uncertain retail environment.
Good luck to all
(20min delay)