(Alliance News) - Spectris PLC on Monday reported strong interim sales growth due to robust demand, but posted a sharp fall in interim profit.
Shares in Spectris were down 6.9% to 2,896.00 pence each in London on Monday morning.
The Egham, England-based precision instrumentation and controls supplier posted a pretax profit of GBP41.8 million in the first half of 2022, down 77% versus GBP181.9 million a year before.
The fall in profit was mainly due to a GBP117.7 million gain booked in the first half of 2021, due to the disposal of businesses, the company explained.
More positively, the FTSE 250 company generated sales of GBP570.2 million, 6.1% higher year-on-year compared to GBP537.5 million.
Spectris credited its sales growth to good momentum it carried over from 2021 and buoyant demand for its products and services.
The firm declared an interim dividend of 24.1 pence, up 4.8% from 23.0p.
For 2022, Spectris expects to deliver high single digit organic sales growth and margin expansion.
"I am pleased with our progress in the first half of 2022. We are continuing to see healthy demand for our products and services, with strong like-for-like growth in both orders and sales. While vigilant to the macro environment and alert to signs of changes in demand, we have confidence in our business and have increased our investment for growth in research and development, to enhance our customer offerings," Chief Executive Andrew Heath commented.
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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Spectris (SXS)