Oxford enjoys currency boost

Oxford Instruments, which supplies tools for industry and research, said that it is starting to see small signs of a pick-up in its depressed industrial markets while its research markets business remains robust.The company saw revenue remain unchanged at £92.8m in the half year to 30 September from the corresponding period of last year, though this was with the help of a £12.3m boost from favourable exchange rate movements.Order intake in the half year period reached a record level of £133.9m, versus £97.5m a year earlier, driven by large orders on the ITER prototype reactor development programme. Excluding ITER, orders exceeded sales by £0.7 million. Reported profit before tax rose to £5.7m from £1.3m the year before, helped by a credit of £5.5m (2008: credit £1.3 million) in respect of mark to market adjustments resulting from the company's policy of not applying hedge accounting to the majority of its financial instruments. The interim dividend has been left unchanged at 2.4p. Oxford Instruments