Gooch & Housego profits rise despite challenging markets

- Half-year growth in difficult markets- Strong Aerospace & Defence and Industrial divisions- Confident of long-term growthOptical components maker Gooch & Housego said it delivered profitable growth and improving margins in less than buoyant market conditions.Adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £5.1m in the six months ended March 31st from £3.8 a year earlier on revenue which increased 18.6% to £34.4m. Basic earnings per share slipped to 11.0p from 11.2p earlier. Its Aerospace & Defence and Industrial divisions enjoyed a particularly strong performance with revenues up 37% on an absolute basis and 22% after excluding the impact of acquisitions. Industrial markets saw revenues up 15% on last year or 5% excluding the impact of acquisitions. Life Sciences revenues were up 15% while Scientific Research market, which is the smallest part of its business, saw revenues fall 16%.Chief Executive Gareth Jones said: "Gooch & Housego's markets continue to exhibit attractive, long-term structural growth drivers as photonic technology is adopted across an increasingly wide range of application areas. We continue to invest in our business with confidence to position it for sustainable long-term growth."Gooch reported a solid order book of £29.7m at the end of the period.The group has proposed an interim dividend per share of 2.6p up from 2.3p the year before. CJ