Halma reports decent progress as it integrates acquisitions
Safety, health and environmental technology company Halma updated the market on its trading since 1 October on Thursday, reporting “good progress” in the period.
The FTSE 100 firm said that, based on current trading and forecasts, it expected adjusted profit before tax for the year ending 31 March to be in line with market consensus expectations.
It said there had been widespread revenue growth geographically, with the US and the UK seeing the strongest growth, with more moderate growth in mainland Europe and the Asia Pacific region.
Order intake remained ahead of revenue and the same period last year.
There was a positive currency translation effect on group revenue and profit in the second half, which the board said resulted in a broadly neutral effect for the year as a whole.
The safety sectors had performed in line with expectations, with the strongest progress in infrastructure safety, supported by positive contributions from recent acquisitions.
Process safety was expected to deliver a “satisfactory” performance for the full year, despite planned reorganisation costs in the second half.
The medical, and environmental and analysis sectors, remained on track to deliver “good” full-year performances, Halma added.
“We made three acquisitions in the second half, all in infrastructure safety, for a total initial consideration of approximately £62m,” the board said in its statement.
“The acquisitions of Limotec and Navtech were reported in the group's half year results announcement.
“In January, we announced the acquisition of Rath Communications - a provider of emergency communication systems for areas of refuge in the US - for $42.4m (£32.6m).”
Halma said the integrations of all acquisitions made during the year were progressing “well”, with its acquisition pipeline remaining healthy in all four sectors.
The group said its financial position was “robust” with cash generation remaining “strong”, supporting investment in both organic and acquisitive growth.