Electrocomponents plc RS Radiospares Radionics Allied Electronics
Annual report & accounts 2009

Operating performance and
key performance indicators

Operating performance
2009 2008
Revenue £974.6m £924.8m
Gross margin 49.5% 50.2%
Contribution £200.2m £203.2m
Group Process costs (£106.6)m (£99.5)m
Headline operating profit £93.6m £103.7m
Interest (net) (£7.0)m (£7.3)m
Headline profit before tax £86.6m £96.4m
Free cash flow £78.0m £75.0m
Headline earnings per share 13.6p 14.8p
Dividend per share 11.0p 18.4p
Key performance indicators
2009 2008
Group sales growth(1) (5.3)% 5.4%
International(1) (4.5)% 8.4%
UK(1) (6.7)% 0.9%
e‑Commerce revenue share 36% 31%
Headline Group return on sales(2) 9.6% 11.2%
Headline ROCE(3) 18.5% 24.0%
Stock turn (per year) 2.7x 2.9x
Revenue per head(4) (£’000) 162 165
Number of customers (millions) 1.5 1.5
Net debt to headline EBITDA 1.7x 1.2x
Interest cover 13.4x 14.2x
  1. (1) Underlying revenue growth, adjusting for currency and trading days
  2. (2) Headline operating profit expressed as a percentage of revenue
  3. (3) Headline operating profit expressed as a percentage of net assets plus net debt
  4. (4) Revenue on a like for like basis (2009 and 2008) adjusting for trading days and foreign exchange