Judges Scientific set to meet full-year expectations

Scientific instrument sector investor Judges Scientific said in a trading update on Thursday that despite ongoing economic uncertainties in 2023, it achieved both organic and inorganic growth in 2023.

The AIM-traded firm said challenges in the supply chain that previously impacted the group started to ease during the year, although they continued to affect cash generation.

That, the board said, allowed the group to realise a portion of its substantial opening order book.

As a result, organic order intake increased 7%, leading to a 15% growth in organic revenues compared to the prior year.

That reduced the organic order book at the end of 2023 to a more historically typical level of 17 weeks, down from 21.1 weeks at the end of 2022.

The company said its strong organic performance, combined with satisfactory full-year trading at Geotek and the successful completion of two small acquisitions in the first half of Henniker and Bossa Nova Vision, contributed to increased profitability at the operating level.

However, the previously-mentioned significant rise in UK headline corporation tax from 19% to 25% from April had a dampening effect on post-tax growth.

The board said it expected adjusted operating profit and adjusted earnings per share for 2023 to align with current market expectations.

Judges Scientific said it planned to release its full-year results for the year ended 31 December on 21 March.

At 1412 GMT, shares in Judges Scientific were up 1.43% at 9,432.8p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.