17th Oct 2013 10:33
LONDON (Alliance News) - Engineering company Renishaw PLC Thursday said revenue for the three months to September 30 has fallen compared to the same period last year as the business continues to trade in challenging conditions.
In an interim management statement, the company which designs, manufactures and sells advanced precision metrology and inspection equipment for the healthcare sector said revenue during the period dropped to GBP79.0 million, from GBP95.9 million in 2012.
By business segment, Renishaw said its metrology business reported revenue of GBP75.2 million, down from GBP92.2 million a year earlier, while healthcare revenue crept up to GBP3.8 million, from GBP3.7 million.
Despite the metrology business struggling, the company experienced good growth of 18% in the Americas and 6% in Europe.
However, this was offset by a 40% reduction in revenue for Renishaw's largest region - the Far East. Last year the region benefited from major sales to the consumer electronics industry.
The UK, a smaller geographical area in terms of revenue, showed a 9% decrease.
Pretax profit for the first quarter amounted to GBP10.6 million, compared with GBP27.7 million last year.
The group said its balance sheet remains "strong" with net cash balances, excluding the escrow account relating to security for the UK defined benefit pension scheme, at September 30 of GBP30.2 million, up from GP26.6 million at the end of June.
Looking ahead, the company remained optimistic and said it would continue to invest in infrastructure, research and development.
"Whilst we may continue to experience unpredictable orders both in terms of size and timing we expect continued global investment in production systems and processes to lead to greater demand for the group's products," it said.
Renishaw shares were trading at 1,524.65 pence Thursday morning, down 9.19%, the biggest faller on the FTSE 250.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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