Investors rushed to buy shares in Programmed Maintenance Services after the labour hire and maintenance group reported solid progress in its integration of Skilled Group and a rosy earnings outlook.
Managing director Chris Sutherland said the integration of Skilled, which was acquired for $652 million in October, is ahead of plan, with annual cost savings of more than $30 million already delivered.
The company has reiterated that earnings before interest, tax, amortisation and non-trading items should jump sharply to between $100 million to $110 million in the year ending March 31, 2017, thanks to Skilled.
That compares to EBITA of $65.5 million in fiscal 2016.
The acquisition of Skilled has increased the company's scale and diversification, opening new opportunities across the combined customer base, Mr Sutherland said.
"I often say that our business is very much like the Australian economy, we grow in the parts of the economy that is growing and we shrink a bit in the parts that aren't," he told AAP.
The Skilled purchase also helped the company deliver a 55 per cent rise in annual revenue to $2.22 billion.
Programmed shares gained 15 cents, or 10 per cent, to $1.615.
However the company made an annual net loss of $98 million due a massive writedown on its marine division, related to the impact of a steep drop in oil and gas prices on demand.
PROGRAMMED MAINTENANCE RESULTS MIXED
* Net loss of $98m vs net profit of $25.7m
* Revenue up 55pct to $2.22b
* Final dividend down 6.5 cents to five cents
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