12th Jun 2018 10:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Oxford Instruments PLC said Tuesday it swung to an annual profit from a loss the previous year in what it called a "positive year" for the maker of medical and other research tools.
For the year to March 31, Oxford Instruments posted a pretax profit of GBP34.2 million from a GBP26.2 million loss the year before.
The company suffered a 1.1% decrease in revenue to GBP296.9 million from GBP300.2 million, though revenue was flat at constant currency.
The swing to a pretax profit was driven, the company said, by a "strong performance" from its Materials & Characterisation sector. This unit swung to a pretax profit of GBP17.3 million from a GBP14.0 million loss the year before. The business recorded 12% revenue growth to GBP118.1 million from GBP105.7 million, which was "supported by the successful launch of new products", according to Oxford Instruments.
Oxford Instrument's Research & Discovery sector also swung to a profit from a loss - a GBP4.1 million profit compared to a GBP3.0 million loss the year before.
Currency effects benefited adjusted operating profit by GBP10.6 million compared to the year before. Adjusted operating profit margin was 15.7% but just 12.0% at constant currency, which Oxford Instruments said was a 70 basis points decline.
Oxford Instruments is proposing a final dividend of 9.6 pence per share, up from 9.3p the year before. This resulted in a full-year dividend increase of 2.3% to 13.3 pence per share from 13.0p.
Looking ahead, the company expects an "improvement in performance on a reported basis" for the upcoming year, after allowing for a currency headwind. It said its order book has increased by 5.0% to GBP134.0 million from GBP127.6 million.
Oxford Instruments said it believes its chosen end markets "remain attractive, supported by commercial and government investment". The company's "growing order book, customer application focus and drive for operational efficiencies" provide confidence for the year ahead.
Chief Executive Ian Barkshire said: "We have made good progress in the year with the early implementation of the Horizon strategy, which was introduced in May 2017.
"We have positioned the group to become a leading provider of high technology products and services to the world's leading industrial companies and scientific research communities to image, analyse and manipulate materials down to the atomic and molecular level. Our chosen end markets remain robust and, combined with our customer applications focus and improved core capabilities, provide strong long-term drivers for future growth and margin improvement."
Shares in Oxford Instruments were up 6.8% Tuesday morning at 977.50 pence each.
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