7th Aug 2014 09:30
LONDON (Alliance News) - Siprax-Sarco Engineering PLC Thursday reported a drop in profit for the first half of its financial year, hit by a fall in revenue and a stronger sterling, but the company raised its interim dividend by 8%.
The UK-based industrial engineering company, which specialises in steam and pump technology, said its pretax profit in the six months to June 30 was GBP63.5 million, down 3% when compared with the GBP65.5 million profit in reported in the first half of 2013.
Revenue in the period fell by 4% to GBP319.2 million, down from GBP331.6 million.
The group said currency moves wiped 7.6% off sales and 12% off its profit in the first half.
The group increased its interim dividend by 8% to 19.5 pence per share, and said it saw good profit growth during the first-half in the Americas and also at Watson-Marlow, its peristaltic pumps business. However, it said it expects market conditions to remain challenging, despite a pick-up in industrial production rates.
"We anticipate that our markets will remain challenging, but as we enter the second half year we have a larger backlog than in the comparable period of 2013, and the board remains confident that we will continue to make progress in 2014," said Chief Executive Nick Anderson in a statement.
Watson-Marlow and Siprax-Sarco's steam specialties business both delivered an increase in operating profit during the first half, as well as higher revenue on a constant currency basis.
Watson-Marlow increased sales by 9% at constant currency and 2% on a reported basis, while the steam specialties business saw sales up 3% at constant currency but down 1% on a reported basis.
Spirax-Sarco Engineering shares were up 2.9% at 2,770.00 pence Thursday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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