LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - British testing firm Intertek said on Friday that a sharper-than-expected decline indemand for its minerals business would drag on its profit marginfor the year.
It said that revenue from testing mineral samples,particularly in Australia, Brazil and the Philippines, was lowerthan previously expected in the four months to end April.
Chief Executive Wolfhart Hauser said that the resultingmargin drag would reduce in the second half, leaving the groupmargin for the full year broadly stable on 2012, when it was16.3 percent.
In an update on trading, the FTSE 100 group, which testsproducts from toys and clothes to oil and renewabletechnologies, said that adjusted operating profit had grownslightly in the period between January 1 and April 30.
Revenue grew 9.9 percent, compared to the same period lastyear, of which 7 percent was organic growth.
Intertek Group (ITRK)
