12th Nov 2019 09:11
(Alliance News) - Oxford Instruments PLC on Tuesday maintained its annual outlook despite reporting double-digit revenue and profit growth in the first half of its current financial year.
The company, which provides tools for scientific research, said pretax profit for the six months to the end of September grew by 55% to GBP18.0 million from GBP11.6 million, as revenue climbed by 13% to GBP166.3 million from GBP147.0 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue advanced by 9.1%.
First-half orders rose by 6.4% to GBP173.3 million from GBP162.9 million. It represents an increase of 2.8% at constant currency.
The Abingdon-headquartered firm explained that the growth was driven by an increased volumes and the benefit from its improved business processes and commercial practices, combined with gains from its operational excellence programme.
Oxford Instruments upped its interim payout by 7.9% to 4.1 pence a share from 3.8p it paid a year earlier.
Looking ahead, Oxford Instruments said its order book stood at GBP186.8 million at the end of the period, up 8.9% from GBP171.6 million a year prior.
"The group has delivered a strong first half performance, with revenue, profit and order growth against a backdrop of uncertain macroeconomic conditions," said Chief Executive Ian Barkshire.
He added: "We expect the second half of the financial year to benefit from the normal seasonal bias, with expectations for the current financial year remaining unchanged on a constant currency basis."
Oxford Instruments shares were trading 7.0% higher in London on Tuesday at 1,470.00p each.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
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