20th Feb 2020 08:43
(Alliance News) - Smith & Nephew PLC on Thursday reported mid-single-digit revenue growth in 2019, but its profit slipped due to an increase in costs.
The FTSE 100-listed medical technology business reported pretax profit of USD743 million in 2019, down 4.9% from USD781 million in 2018, amid higher selling, general & administrative expenses, which rose to USD2.69 billion from USD2.50 billion.
Revenue, meanwhile, grew by 4.8% to USD5.14 billion from USD4.90 billion year-on-year.
"The improved underlying revenue growth of 4.4% in 2019, the best for several years, has propelled group sales above USD5 billion for the first time in Smith & Nephew's history. All franchises and regions meaningfully contributed to this record," said Chief Executive Roland Diggelmann.
Smith & Nephew declared a 23.1 US cents a share final dividend, taking the total distribution to 37.5 US cents, up 4% year-on-year.
Looking forward, Smith & Nephew said it expects its underlying revenue growth to be in the range of 3.5% to 4.5% in 2020. In addition, the company said it expects to deliver a 2020 trading profit margin at or slightly above 2019 level of 22.8%. In 2018, trading margin stood at 22.9%.
Diggelmann said: "For 2020, our focus is on sustaining the positive momentum and our strategic imperatives remain the right path to value creation."
Smith & Nephew shares were trading 8.4% higher in London on Thursday morning at 1,999.00 pence each.
By Evelina Grecenko; [email protected]
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