(Alliance News) - Renishaw PLC on Thursday reported record orders in the first quarter of its new financial year, following a good recovery in the recently ended year that saw the Gloucestershire-based engineering and scientific technology firm try and fail to find a buyer.
Shares in Renishaw were trading up 10% at 5,125.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
In the first quarter ended September 30, revenue rose 35% to GBP157.8 million from GBP116.9 million a year earlier. Adjusted pretax profit rose sharply year-on-year to GBP41.7 million in the quarter from GBP18.3 million.
By comparison, Renishaw reported adjusted pretax profit of GBP4.3 million on revenue of GBP119.7 million in first quarter two years earlier, before the pandemic.
Its order book reached a record high through the recent quarter, the company added, without specifying its total value.
"We expect demand from the semiconductor and electronics sectors to remain strong and that there will continue to be a recovery in the machine tool and co-ordinate measuring machine markets. In our analytical instruments and medical devices markets, we have seen confidence return and capital expenditure projects released," Renishaw added.
"The board continues to be confident in our long-term prospects, due to our strong financial position, the high quality of our people, our innovative product pipeline," it added.
This follows what Renishaw termed a "positive year of recovery", reporting strong growth in the Asia Pacific region and improved sales in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
Pretax profit shot up to GBP111.5 million in the year that ended June 30, from only GBP3.2 million in the Covid-impacted year prior. Revenue, meanwhile, rose 11% year-on-year to GBP565.6 million from GBP510.2 million.
Manufacturing technologies revenue alone rose 11% to GBP526.2 million in the recent financial year from GBP475.2 million in financial 2020. This increase came after "record" demand for encoders, driven by booming semiconductor and electronics capital investment in the period. Higher sales of flexible gauging and machine tool products also played a role, Renishaw said.
However, as in its previous financial year, the company proposed no final dividend due to uncertainty arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.
Back in March, Renishaw opened a formal sales process, triggered by Executive Chair David McMurtry and Non-Executive Deputy Chair John Deer, the company's founders, saying they wanted to sell their combined 53% stake. The effort was ended in July without success.
Renishaw had said its board had reviewed a number of proposals with its advisers, but board members now have unanimously concluded that "none would meet the board's objectives of delivering an outcome that satisfactorily met the interests of all stakeholders". It said McMurtry and Deer remained committed to Renishaw.
The company made reference to the sale process on Thursday but didn't add anything to its previous statements.
By Scarlett Butler; scarlettbutler@alliancenews.com
Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Renishaw (RSW)