Smiths News - Interim dividend declared; yield attractions

The declaration of the interim dividend, albeit modest, is the next step in the recovery of Smiths News as it signals that not only was trading at the interim stage in line with management expectations, but also that the company is on track to meet market expectations for the full year. Trading beyond the current year also has good visibility given that most of its contracts are in place until at least 2024. Debt is expected to fall to 1.0x EBITDA by the end of FY23, and dividends are well covered and growing. The stock trades on a forward P/E of 4.2x in FY22e, which is undemanding, with an attractive 5.6% yield.