Diploma - chugging along nicely

Industrial supplier Diploma announced its finals today (https://goo.gl/j6zOXY), sending its shares up 1.2% to 910.5p in early trading. Revenues were up 15%, profit before tax was up 5%, free cashflow was up 46%, and total dividends were up 10%. So everything is going in the right direction. The Chief Executive commented: Despite the current macro-economic uncertainty in the global environment, the Board remains confident that the Group will continue to make further progress in the coming year from a combination of steady GDP plus organic growth and a strong and successful acquisition programme. Dividends have grown by 16% pa over the last 5 years, and more that quadrupled over the last decade. According to Stockopedia, its average ROCE over the last 5 years was 23.9%. It has next cash. DPLM is part of my LTBH (long-term buy-and-hold) portfolio due to its combination of high ROCE, conservative financing, and steady increase of dividends. It is a “steady compounder”. DPLM is rarely mentioned on the bulletin boards due to its lack of excitement value. Lack of bulletin board interest is usually considered a good sign. It does not appeal to value investors, as it is not a value share....