Despit e unc er t ain t y and v ola tilit y in global mark e ts underlying Ne t Pr o ft A f t er T a x NP A T EPS and dividends t o shar eholders incr e ased mor e than 25 fr om the pr e vious y e ar T his w as primarily due t o c on tinued impr o v emen t in mark e t c onditions f or those busines s s tr e ams e xposed t o miner al c ommodities mark e ts as w el l as suc c es s ful e xpansion in the les s c y clical Lif e Scienc es oper a tions via ac quisitions in the f ood and pharmac eutical sec t ors in mainland Eur ope South America and Nor th America During the y e ar al l segmen ts o f the C ompan y c on tribut ed positiv e oper a ting r esults and bene ft ed fr om a s tr ong f ocus on cash and deb t or managemen t c on tinued aggr es siv e c os t managemen t and inno v a tion and t echnological adv anc es In April the C ompan y c omple t ed the s ale o f its En vir onmen t al t es ting busines s in China t o SUEZ T his f ol lo w ed the div es tmen t in M ar ch o f the Lif e Scienc es C onsumer Pr oduc ts t es ting busines s based in Hong K ong and mainland China and f ol lo w ed a decision tha t giv en the smal l siz e o f e ach o f the busines ses r ela tiv e t o the mark e t in which the y oper a t ed the Gr oups capit al w as mor e e f fcien tly al loca t ed b y in v es ting t o align with e xpansion in the f ood and pharmac eutical sec t ors in A sia Eur ope and the Americas A s pr e viously f or eshado w ed the Gr oup decided t o e xit the r emaining labor a t ory servic es c omponen t o f its Oil Gas busines s C onsidering the c on tinuous chal lenges f ac ed b y the busines s and the lack o f po t en tial buy ers with a ttr ac tiv e o f f ers Dir ec t ors decided t o close the oper a tion in M ar ch 2019 Financial P er f ormanc e T he Gr oup achie v ed an underlying NP A T fr om c on tinuing oper a tions f or the fnancial y e ar ended 31 M ar ch 2019 o f 181 mil lion r epr esen ting a 273 per c en t impr o v emen t on the pr e vious y e ars c ompar a tiv e underlying r esult T he s t a tut ory NP A T w as 1538 mil lion Gr oup r e v enue fr om c on tinuing oper a tions w as 16449 mil lion up 151 per c en t on the 14469 mil lion r ec or ded f or the s ame c ompar a tiv e busines ses in FY2018 T he C ompan y r emains c ommitt ed t o its s tr a t egy o f main t aining a s tr ong balanc e shee t thr oughout ec onomic c y cles and main t ained a c onserv a tiv e ge aring le v el a t 361 per c en t up mar ginal ly fr om 311 per c en t fr om las t y e ar T he Gr oup s le v er age r a tio r emained s t able a t 18 times a t y e ar end up mar ginal ly fr om 17 times las t y e ar In April the C ompan y announc ed a ne w is sue o f long t erm senior no t es e xt ending the Gr oup s w eigh t ed a v er age deb t pr o fle t o 53 y e ars T he solid fnancial per f ormanc e o f the busines s t oge ther with the s tr engthening cash fo ws o v er the c ourse o f the fnancial y e ar al lo w ed the Boar d t o deliv er a 324 per c en t incr e ase in ful l y e ar dividend per shar e T he Boar d has declar ed a 35 per c en t fr ank ed fnal dividend o f 115 c en ts per shar e bringing the t o t al ful l y e ar dividend t o 225 c en ts per shar e T his is c onsis t en t with our s t a t ed polic y t o pa y out appr o xima t ely 5060 per c en t o f underlying NP A T A mor e c ompr ehensiv e o v ervie w o f the Gr oup s fnancial per f ormanc e is se t out in the Dir ec t ors R epor t Chairman s and CE O s r epor t W elc ome t o ALS s 2019 Annual R epor t ALS c on tinues t o gr o w and thriv e in its ques t t o bec ome a t op tier global t es ting inspec tion c er tifca tion c ompan y W e mak e positiv e c on tributions t o global c ommunities with our as sur anc e w ork and sus t ainabilit y pr ogr ams W e no w ha v e o v er 15000 emplo y ees c onduc ting oper a tions in 65 c oun tries gener a ting r e v enues in e x c es s o f 16 bil lion per annum FY2019 s a w ano ther s tr ong fnancial per f ormanc e fr om our c on tinuing oper a tions and demons tr a t ed tha t the Gr oup r emains on tr ack t o achie v e the goals outlined in its fv e y e ar s tr a t egic plan 6 ALS LIMITED AND IT S SUBSIDIARIES A NNU AL F INANCIAL R EPOR T F OR THE Y EAR E NDED 31 M AR CH 2019 C HAIRMAN S AND CE O S REPOR T