Shares of ALS Ltd [ASX:ALQ] are up a whopping 15.04% today.
What sent the ALS Share Price soaring?
ALS announced its statutory net profit yesterday. Net profit attributable to shareholders was $81.6 million for the full year to 31 March 2017, a complete turnaround from the company’s $240.7 million net loss on the previous corresponding period.
ALS reported revenue of $1.366 billion. Shares spiked up from $5.85 yesterday to $6.67 at time of writing.
The underlying result is attributed to the continuing recovery of mineral resource exploration and development in many parts of the world. Yet the life sciences division reported a 9% earnings drop due to difficult market conditions.
The company announced a final partially franked dividend of 13.5 cents per share. The dividend will be paid on 3 July 2017.
Based in Brisbane, ALS is one of the world’s leading testing, inspection, certification and verification companies. The company has over 12,000 employees in 70 countries.
What now for ALS?
The company is looking to divest the majority of assets in the oil and gas technical services sector, which incurred underlying losses of $14.5 million during the year as the market suffered from diminishing exploration and production activity.
The company is also looking at growing the life sciences division, particularly in the food sector. Investors need to decide if the company’s actions will be enough to keep profits going.
Regards,
Selva Freigedo
Money Morning