9th Aug 2016 07:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - Spirax-Sarco Engineering PLC on Tuesday reported growth in pretax profit for the first half of 2016 as it said it has acquired the assets of a Brazilian valve maker.
Spirax-Sarco, which makes steam management systems and peristaltic pumps, said pretax profit in the half to the end of June rose to GBP73.4 million from GBP57.3 million a year prior, as revenue rose to GBP344.0 million from GBP320.0 million thanks mainly to acquisitions the company made.
Constant currency, organic revenue grew 5.0% in the half, with good growth from its Steam Specialities and Watson-Marlow businesses.
Spirax-Sarco declared an interim dividend of 22.5 pence, up from 20.8p a year prior.
"Despite challenging conditions, we have seen organic sales growth in all divisions of the Steam Specialities business and Watson-Marlow is having another very strong year," said Chief Executive Nicholas Anderson.
Anderson, however, said the group anticipates organic growth will slow in the second half given a weaker comparator for the second quarter of the year. Reported growth will benefit from a weaker pound, he said, but will be "less influenced" by acquisitions.
"We anticipate that our markets will remain challenging in the second half of this year. We are seeing the benefits of investments in our strategy for growth and have a robust, resilient and geographically diverse business model, which coupled with a strong balance sheet positions us well to navigate the current economic environment," Anderson added.
In a separate statement, Spirax-Sarco said it has agreed to acquire the assets of Brazil's Hiter Industria e Comercio de Controles Termo-Hidraulicos Ltda from US-listed Pentair PLC.
Hiter makes steam and process fluid applications and Spirax-Sarco said the business has strong synergies with its existing Brazilian unit.
Spirax-Sarco acquired Hiter for GBP3.9 million in cash.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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