(Adds CEO comments, detail, background, shares)
By Li-mei Hoang
LONDON, March 2 (Reuters) - British product-testing firmIntertek Group said demand from the textile, electricaland building industries should offset a drop in business fromsome oil and gas customers this year, sending its shares to athree-month high.
The company, which tests products from barrels of oil tochildren's toys to check they comply with regulations, said onMonday it expected a small improvement in underlying revenuegrowth this year after a 2.3 percent increase in 2014.
"We think that the organic growth rate will graduallyimprove over the year, and that means that our organic growthrate should be a bit higher than last year overall," said ChiefExecutive Wolfhart Hauser, who will retire in May after 10 yearsin the role.
Revenues totalled 2.1 billion pounds ($3.2 billion) in 2014.
Intertek shares were up 3.4 percent to 26.18 pounds at 0916GMT, the biggest rise on the UK's FTSE 100 index.
But Hauser warned of challenging conditions in the company'soil and gas capital spending business, which represents around13 percent of group revenues. Energy companies have beenslashing investment budgets following a plunge in oil prices.
Intertek, which employs more than 36,000 people around theworld, raised its full-year dividend by 6.7 percent to 49.1pence per share.
Hauser, who will be succeeded by Inchcape CEO André Lacroix,said the company planned to invest in its transportation,textiles, telecoms and food and agriculture divisions, which all showed strong demand last year.
"Those businesses will continue to grow strongly, and wewill also continue to make the necessary organic investments,maybe also acquisitions in those areas," he said.
($1 = 0.6495 pounds) (Editing by Paul Sandle and Mark Potter)
Intertek Group (ITRK)
