11th May 2015 06:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Diploma PLC posted a rise in pretax profit for its the first half, buoyed by acquisitions it made during the past year, and it increased its interim dividend, saying this expressed its confidence in its growth prospects.
The specialist products and services company posted a pretax profit of GBP26.0 million for the half year to end-March, up from GBP24.2 million a year before, as revenue rose to GBP163.2 million from GBP148.6 million.
The company said businesses it had acquired added 10% to its revenues. However the strength of sterling against the euro, Canadian and Australian dollars hit results, reducing revenue by 2%, Diploma estimated.
Diploma cited strong growth in its Seals arm, driven by strong demand particularly in North America, which offset weaker growth in its Life Sciences arm due to tougher markets for its Canadian Healthcare business and a decline in its Controls arm due to softer European industrial markets.
During the half year the company invested GBP35.0 million in further acquisitions, buying up Technopath Distribution last October and Kubo Group in March. Diploma said its acquisition pipeline remains "encouraging", and it will continue to focus on completing these purchases.
Diploma proposed an interim dividend of 5.8 pence, up 7% from 5.4 pence in the previous year.
"Diploma has delivered a robust performance for the first half with a significant contribution from acquisitions completed during the past year. This has allowed the Group to report growth in earnings and dividends, despite the challenges caused by weaker European industrial markets and volatile currency movements," said Chief Executive Bruce Thompson in a statement.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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