Last checked at 22 Mar 2018 07:00
Halma plc
Trading Update
22 March 2018
Trading Update
Halma, the leading safety, health and environmental technology group today releases its scheduled Trading Update, relating to trading for the period from 1 October 2017 to today.
Based on current trading and forecasts, the Board expects adjusted profit before tax for the year ending 31 March 2018 to be in line with market expectations (see notes 1 and 2).
Halma continues to benefit from the diversity of its markets and resilient growth drivers. Order intake has remained ahead of revenue. The positive currency translation impact in the first half has reversed and, at current rates, there is now expected to be a neutral impact for the full year.
Organic constant currency revenue and profit growth has continued in the second half with organic constant currency revenue growth in all major geographic regions. Asia Pacific has maintained a strong performance with good progress in the UK, USA, Mainland Europe and Other regions.
All sectors have traded in line with our expectations outlined at the half year. The Environmental & Analysis sector has performed strongly, with the Process Safety, Infrastructure Safety and Medical sectors making good progress. As expected, actions to control discretionary costs are steadily improving profitability in the Medical sector and the growth rate in the Process Safety sector has moderated due to tougher prior year comparators.
The Group's financial position remains strong. This supports both organic growth and acquisition investment. We continue to identify potential acquisition opportunities in all four of our sectors.
In December 2017, we announced the combined acquisition of Argus and Sterling for a consideration of £21 million. Argus, based in Trieste, Italy is a leading manufacturer of wireless fire systems and Sterling is its exclusive distributor of wireless devices into the UK market. The integration into our Infrastructure Safety sector is progressing well.
The results for the year ending 31 March 2018 will be released on 12 June 2018.
Board Succession Update
The transition of Marc Ronchetti to Group CFO is progressing well. Marc will succeed Kevin Thompson at the end of June 2018 prior to Kevin's retirement from Halma at the end of July 2018.
For further information, please contact:
Halma plc Tel: +44 (0)1494 721111
Andrew Williams, Chief Executive
MHP Communications Tel: +44 (0)20 3128 8100
Rachel Hirst/Andrew Jaques
Notes:
1. | Adjusted profit before tax is before amortisation and impairment of acquired intangible assets, acquisition items, restructuring costs and profit or loss on disposal of operations.
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2. | The Board believes current market forecasts for adjusted profit before tax to be in the range of £208.3 million to £218.1 million with a consensus of £212.3 million.
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3. | This Trading Update is based on unaudited management accounts information and has been prepared solely to provide additional information to the shareholders of Halma plc. It should not be relied on by any other party, for other purposes. Forward-looking statements have been made by the Directors in good faith using information available up until the date that they approved this statement. Forward-looking statements should be regarded with caution because of the inherent uncertainties in economic trends and business risks.
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4. | A copy of this announcement, together with other information about Halma, may be viewed on its website: www.halma.com
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