12th May 2014 08:09
LONDON (Alliance News) - Business products and services company Diploma PLC Monday reported a small increase in profit and revenue for the first half, reflecting a strong performance across the business, and raised its interim dividend by 8.0%.
The company posted pretax profit of GBP17.0 million for the six-months ended March 31, edging up from GBP16.7 million a year earlier, while revenue rose 6.4% to GBP148.6 million from GBP139.7 million in 2013.
The connectors, hydraulic seals and life sciences technology developer attributed its results to a strong performance across most of its key business segments - seals, controls and life sciences.
The Seals business - which supplies hydraulic seals, gaskets, cylinders, components and kits for heavy mobile machinery and industrial equipment - recorded a 9% increase in revenue to GBP54.9 million during the period, from GBP50.5 million a year earlier. The business was boosted by acquisitions in Europe and good growth in the recovering Danish and Swedish markets.
The Controls arm, which supplies interconnect products and fluid-control components for technically demanding applications, saw revenue rise 11% to GBP47.1 million from GBP42.5 million. Diploma said all its businesses within the division performed well. However, Clarendon, which supplies interconnect products was the strongest performer, with revenue rising by around 30% compared with the previous period.
On the other hand, the Life Sciences division, which supplies consumables, instrumentation and related services to the healthcare and environmental industries reported a slight dip in revenue to GBP46.6 million from GBP46.7 million in 2013.
Revenue increased by 10% in constant currency terms for Life Sciences. However, with sterling strengthening by 13% against the Canadian dollar and by 20% against the Australian dollar during the period, revenues remained broadly unchanged in UK sterling terms, Diploma said.
Looking ahead the firm said it has made good progress in 2014 and remains confident of future growth.
"Whilst the significant strengthening of UK sterling has affected the group's reported results, the underlying performance demonstrates the strength of the group's proven business model which delivers GDP-plus levels of revenue growth with sustainable attractive margins and strong free cash flow," Chief Executive Bruce Thompson said in a statement.
On the back of its strong performance the company increased its interim dividend 8.0% to 5.4 pence from 5.0 pence in 2013.
Shares in Diploma were trading 0.1% lower at 689.50 pence per share early Monday after falling to 674.50p at the open.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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