Spectris keeps annual guidance amid solid performance in third quarter

(Alliance News) - Spectris PLC on Thursday reported solid third-quarter trading that underpins its full-year guidance and provides momentum into 2022.

The Egham, England-based supplier of precision instrumentation & controls said its like-for-like sales increased 12% year-on-year in the three months to September 30 and were 2% higher than in 2019. Year-to-date, like-for-like sales were 13% higher and compared to the same period in 2019, were only 1% lower.

Reported sales in the third quarter of 2021 decreased 1% to GBP324.7 million. Disposals, net of acquisitions, reduced sales by 7%, while sales also suffered a 5% negative foreign currency exchange impact. For the nine months, reported sales were broadly flat at GBP926.5 million year-on-year.

Spectris said its order book continued to see strong momentum with orders growing 31% on a like-for-like basis in the quarter, and were up 21% year-to-date.

"Our continued focus on supporting our customers and the positive impact of new product launches has driven demand ahead of the strong recovery in our target end markets. As anticipated, the supply chain is now constraining our ability to translate our very strong order intake to revenue, however, our full year guidance of 10% to 12% sales growth is maintained," said Chief Executive Andrew Heath.

FTSE 250-listed Spectris shares were trading 1.1% higher in London on Thursday morning at 3,768.00 pence each.

By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com

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