Shares in Volution Group PLC (LSE:FAN) retreated 5% from recent all-time highs after the ventilation group reported full-year results in line with expectations, with its dividend increased by 12.5%.
Revenues of £347.6 million for the 12 months ended 31 July were up 6% on a year earlier, while adjusted operating profits rose 12% to £78 million and adjusted PBT and EPS were both up 9%.
The UK residential unit performed strongly with 17% growth, helped by a strong performance in renovation markets, while new-build activity increased as regulatory impact trumped lower build volumes.
Strong growth in the Netherlands and Australia offset weaker performance and more challenging market conditions in UK commercial, Germany and New Zealand.
UK commercial was down 7%, Central Europe was flat on an LFL basis but up 17% post acquisitions, while Nordics were also flat.
Net debt excluding lease liabilities was cut to £32 million from £58 million at the end of the year.
A dividend of 9.0p was declared for the year.
Celebrating Volution's tenth year as a listed company, chief executive Ronnie George said during that time the company has "moved from being a largely UK centric ventilation leader to having a broad-based presence across the UK, Continental European and Australasian ventilation markets".
He said the widening of operating profit margins despite continuing challenging markets was "a testament to our scale, diversification, and strong cohesion between the local operating areas, as well as our group-wide technical, procurement and product management functions".
The new financial year has started as anticipated, he said, with both revenue and adjusted operating profit ahead of the same period last year.
Since year-end, Volution has also announced the AUD$280 million (£143.7 million) acquisition of ventilation business in Australia and New Zealand from Fantech, the group's largest acquisition to date.
The shares, which hit an all-time high of 624p last month, fell back to 580p on Thursday morning.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said the shares have performed strongly in 2024, rallying by 41%, such that lately they were trading on 18.4 times 2025 earnings.
"We continue to like the company, its strong cash flow and ability to grow without issuing new equity, but think the valuation is up with events for now."