Last checked at 13 Nov 2019 07:00
News Release
Wednesday 13th November 2019
TRADING UPDATE
Expectations unchanged despite slowing Industrial Production growth
Spirax-Sarco Engineering plc, the world leader in the control and efficient use of steam, peristaltic pumping and associated fluid path technologies, and a leading provider of electric thermal solutions, issues the following trading update in respect of the four month period ended 31st October 2019.
Economic environment
The global macro-economic environment remains subdued with the latest forecast for Global Industrial Production (IP) growth for 2019 at 1.0%, down from 1.6% at the time of our Interim results announcement. As in the first half of the year, IP growth for the full year is expected to be weighted towards the emerging economies where the increase is forecast to be 2.9%, compared with -0.3% in the developed economies, with much of the differential coming from China. This continues the downward trend that we have seen since the first quarter of 2018 although, on a more positive note, economic forecasters are suggesting that the fourth quarter of 2019 will be the bottom of the cycle with growth expected to improve to 1.7% in 2020.
Trading
As expected, the Group's organic* sales growth rate in the four months to October reduced from that achieved in the first six months of the year, but continued to outperform IP growth.
Sales growth in the Steam Specialties business has softened as expected, in response to slowing IP growth rates, with the slowdown being more pronounced in EMEA than in the Americas and Asia Pacific.
Growth in the Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group continues to be strong, above that seen in the first half of the year.
Chromalox saw marginal growth in the four months to October against a very strong comparable period in 2018, and reduced forecasts for industrial production in its core USA market. As expected, we have seen indications of operational performance improvement resulting from actions initiated in the first half of this year.
The integration of Thermocoax, which joined the Group in May, continues to progress well and its overall performance remains in line with our expectations. The net effect of this acquisition combined with the disposal of HygroMatik in December last year will increase the Group's full-year sales by approximately 1.5%. At the Full Year, Thermocoax's results will be reported within the newly renamed Electric Thermal Solutions business, encompassing Thermocoax and Chromalox, which will continue trading under their respective names.
Consistent with the first half-year performance, Group operating profit is ahead of the comparable ten-month period at constant currency, both on an organic basis and when the effects of the above acquisition and disposal are included.
Currency effects continue to be muted this year, consistent with what we reported at the Half Year. If spot rates at 31st October 2019 prevail for the remainder of the year, there would be a negligible impact to both sales and profit from foreign exchange movements. Movements in exchange rates are often volatile and unpredictable, therefore the actual impact could be quite different.
Financial position
Our business remains highly cash generative and we maintain a strong balance sheet. At 31st October 2019, the net borrowings of the Group were £315.4 million. The interim dividend for 2019 of 32.0p per share was paid on 8th November at a cash cost of £23.6 million.
People
As previously announced, Jay Whalen, President Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) and Executive Director, will retire from WMFTG and the Board on 31st December 2019 after more than 28 years of service. We would again like to thank him for his huge contribution to the Group.
We are pleased to announce that Jay's successor, Andrew Mines, joined the Group on 11th November and will take over as Managing Director WMFTG from 1st January 2020 and become a member of the Group Executive Committee. Andrew, based at the Group Headquarters in Cheltenham, UK, joins us from Illinois Tool Works (ITW), where his most recent role was Global Executive Vice President of Construction Products, a Division with 1,700 employees, revenues of $1.7 billion and a profit margin similar to the Spirax Sarco Group.
We are also pleased to announce that Dominique Mallet, previously Head of Thermocoax, was promoted to the role of President of the Electric Thermal Solutions business and became a member of the Group Executive Committee, effective 1st September 2019.
Outlook
Industrial production growth rates are forecast to continue to slow for the remainder of the year in both developed and emerging markets and while predictions for 2020 are less clear, forecasters are indicating a modestly improving trend through the next year. Comparisons with previous cycles would lead us to suspect that any macro-economic recovery may be slower than predicted. Notwithstanding the economic backdrop, we continue with our investment programmes to support future growth and the implementation of our strategy to generate growth from our own actions to outperform our markets. We achieve this by being more effective in identifying and generating engineered solutions to help our customers with energy efficiency, sustainability, productivity, quality, cost reduction and compliance with ever increasing regulatory requirements.
Whilst, as always, we have limited visibility due to the short-term nature of our order book, we have good diversification across market sectors and geographic regions and remain focused on our strategies for growth, which, together with the Group's fundamental strengths, stand us in good stead. Our overall expectations for the Full Year are unchanged and the Board has confidence that the Group will make further progress in 2019.
Spirax Sarco expects to publish its preliminary 2019 results on 11th March 2020.
Enquiries:
Nicholas Anderson, Group Chief Executive
Kevin Boyd, Chief Financial Officer
Tel: 01242 535234
Note: References to profit are to adjusted operating profit that excludes the amortisation and impairment of acquisition-related intangible assets and acquisition and disposal costs, together with the tax effects of these items.
* References to organic changes exclude acquisitions and disposals, and are expressed at constant currency.
About Spirax‐Sarco Engineering plc
Spirax‐Sarco Engineering plc is a thermal energy management and niche pumping specialist. It comprises three world‐leading businesses: Steam Specialties, for the control and management of steam; Electric Thermal Solutions, for advanced electrical process heating and temperature management solutions; and Watson-Marlow, for peristaltic pumping and associated fluid path technologies. The Steam Specialties and Electric Thermal Solutions businesses provide a broad range of fluid control and electrical process heating products, engineered packages, site services and systems expertise for a diverse range of industrial and institutional customers. Both businesses help their end users to improve production efficiency, meet their environmental sustainability targets, improve product quality and enhance the safety of their operations. Watson‐Marlow Fluid Technology Group provides solutions for a wide variety of demanding fluid path applications with highly accurate, controllable and virtually maintenance free pumps and associated technologies.
The Group is headquartered in Cheltenham, UK, has strategically located manufacturing plants around the world and employs over 8,000 people, of whom over 1,600 are direct sales and service engineers. Its shares have been listed on the London Stock Exchange since 1959 (symbol: SPX) and it is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index.
Further information can be found at www.spiraxsarcoengineering.com
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