2020: Year in review
Our role has never been more important. As the only company globally with a Total Quality Assurance offering – comprising Assurance, Testing, Inspection and Certification solutions – we’re uniquely placed to keep businesses powering ahead, no matter the obstacles they face.
The pandemic has brought to life Intertek’s purpose-led role in society as never before. We are working with customers, both new and existing, using our scale and expertise to help them address their challenges with leading-edge, innovative solutions.
We’ve proved this in 2020, helping our customers confront and resolve real issues in a way that’s making it easier and safer for them to operate. And, as our customers continue to face unprecedented challenges, we’re always there to support them and Build Back Ever Better.
Read on to find out how we are helping to address some of the challenges the world is facing and how we are helping our customers Build Back Ever Better.
Financial highlights
Resilient revenue performance, robust margin and strong cash generation demonstrating the strengths of our business model, its geographic and business line diversity, our disciplined approach to performance management and importantly, our strongly cash-generative earnings model.
Revenue
£2,742m (2019: £2,987m)Like-for-like revenue1
£2,736m (2019: £2,983m)Adjusted free cash flow2
£436m (2019: £395m)Adjusted operating profit1, 2
£428m (2019: £524m)Statutory operating profit
£378m (2019: £486m)Return On Invested Capital1, 2
21.6% (2019: 23.7%)Adjusted operating margin1, 2
15.6% (2019: 17.5%)Statutory operating margin
13.8% (2019: 16.3%)Dividend per share3
105.8p (2019: 105.8p)Adjusted diluted earnings per share1, 2
170.9p (2019: 212.5p)Statutory diluted earnings per share
152.4p (2019: 192.6p)-
Definitions of the above metrics and constant rates are set out on page 24 of the Annual Report.
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Adjusted operating profit, adjusted operating profit margin, adjusted diluted earnings per share (‘EPS’) and adjusted free cash flow are non-GAAP measures. Adjusted measures are stated before Separately Disclosed Items, which are described in note three to the financial statements in the 2020 Annual Report and Accounts. Reconciliations between statutory and adjusted measures, as well as return on invested capital and cash conversion, are shown in the Financial review of the 2020 Report and Accounts.
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Dividend per share for 2020 is based on the interim dividend paid of 34.2p (2019: 34.2p) plus the proposed final dividend of 71.6p (2019: 71.6p).
Sustainability highlights
Through our vast reach across our 300,000 customers and the industries which they occupy,
our services help contribute to progress across all of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Our full year results
We have delivered a resilient financial performance in 2020 with earnings and cash ahead of expectations.”André Lacroix, CEO
‘Ever Better’ solutions
We expect the theme of Building Back Ever Better to guide the actions of governments, companies, institutions, regulators and consumers, especially in three important areas:
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management, boards and shareholders will want to build safer supply chains
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consumers, governments and corporations will want to offer better personal safety
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the world will need to invest in and build a low carbon society.
As the challenges that our customers face evolve, so do we. And our priority today isn’t simply to help customers recover from the impact of COVID-19. It’s to empower them to prosper as never before, building a sustainable future for all.
You can see how Intertek is addressing these three areas below.
Safer, more diversified supply chains
We give companies better insight into every layer of their supply chains – reducing risk, improving traceability, sharpening intelligence and increasing resilience.
Our Role
Delivering end-to-end, risk-based, supply chain assurance is our core business at Intertek: underpinning supply resilience, minimising reputational risk and driving ethical and sustainable business practices
Better personal safety and wellbeing
We are helping to create a world where higher standards of health and personal safety, hygiene and wellbeing are the norm, enabled by better understanding and more targeted investment.
Our Role
Empowering customers with innovative health, safety and wellbeing solutions is a key aspect of our vision to make the world a better and a safer place. More than ever, companies are turning to our expertise in this area: driven by passion, delivered with pace and precision.
Low carbon economy
As people, companies and countries everywhere increasingly shape greener strategies, we’re helping our customers participate and transact confidently in the sustainability revolution transforming our world.
Our Role
We help companies meet growing stakeholder expectations on clear and transformative sustainable objectives, trusted industry benchmarks, consistent performance improvement, and certify results with total transparency, assured.