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LONDON (Alliance News) - Judges Scientific PLC on Thursday said its trading climate has been favourable and it now expects to post annual earnings per share above market expectations.
"The trading climate was favourable throughout the year and the momentum in demand accelerated in the second half," the company said.
Judges Scientific, which is involved in buying and building scientific instrument businesses, is expecting earnings per share for 2018 to be slightly ahead of current market expectations, which were already revised upwards for a second time in November.
The company's order book grew 6.2%, in organic terms, for 2018 as a whole. Judges Scientific defines organic growth as including all businesses owned by the company prior to January 2017.
The total order book on December 31 was 14.2 weeks of budgeted sales, compared to 14.9 weeks the year before.
Judges Scientific is slated to release its 2018 results on March 19. Shares in the company were up 1.2% at 2,440.00 pence each on Thursday.