Intertek Group Share News (ITRK)

Product testing and certification group Intertek said results were dampened by currency movements and headwinds in the natural resources sectors in 2014, though it was still able to lift its dividend.Pre-tax profits were down 4.7% at actual foreign exchange (FX) rates to £300.2m, but would have been 2.5% higher on a constant currency basis.Revenues declined 4.2% to £2.09bn but grew 2.3% at stable FX."Intertek delivered solid growth in its product-related businesses in 2014. However, we saw continuing headwinds in the oil and gas capex and mining sectors, and the effect of our strategic exit from certain low-value Industry contracts," said chief executive Wolfhart Hauser.The company raised its full-year dividend by 6.7% to 49.1p per share.The group reckons that its organic revenue growth rate will "improve gradually" in 2015 compared with the 0.6% decline seen last year. However it did forecast continued weakness in its oil and gas capex business, which represents around 13% of group revenues."Looking further ahead, we expect the near-term negative headwinds in our oil and gas capex business to ease. Our commodity and infrastructure businesses will enable Intertek to take advantage of the long-term growth in energy demand," Hauser said.