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(Alliance News) - Quality assurance firm Intertek Group PLC on Tuesday said it is going from "strength to strength" as demand from customers rises.
London-based Intertek, a member of the FTSE 100, reported 3.6% group organic revenue growth in the period between July and October, with the Products division delivering 2.6% growth, the Trade unit posting 3.5% growth, and the Resources arm seeing growth of 7.6%.
In the year-to-date, Intertek's revenue has risen 7.4% to GBP2.49 billion, with organic growth 3.3%. Year-to-date organic growth in Products was 2.3%, Trade 4.4%, and Resources 5.2%.
"2019 will mark another year of continuous progress in revenue, margin and cash as we expect to deliver good organic revenue growth with solid margin progression at constant rates and strong cash conversion," said Chief Executive Andre Lacroix.
"Our good organic revenue growth at constant currency at the group level in 2019 will be driven by good organic growth in our Products division, good organic growth in our Trade division, and by robust organic growth in our Resources division," he continued.
Intertek has held guidance for net debt at the end of 2019 to be between GBP670 million and GBP700 million. It said a strong balance sheet means it will be able to make further acquisitions and continue to deliver "strong" shareholder returns.
"Looking further ahead, the global assurance, testing, inspection & certification industry will continue to benefit from exciting growth prospects driven by an increased focus of corporations on risk management, global trade flows, global demand for energy, expanding regulations, more complex supply chains, technological innovations and increased demand for higher quality and more sustainable products," said Intertek.
"Intertek is well positioned to take advantage of these growth opportunities in the quality assurance market. We offer a high-quality assurance, testing, inspection & certification service to our clients based on the depth and breadth of our technical expertise, our global network of state-of-the-art facilities and our customer-centric culture."
Shares were 0.8% lower in early trade in London on Tuesday morning at a price of 5,500.00 pence each.
By George Collard; georgecollard@alliancenews.com
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