Halma reports rise in Q1 revenue and order intake

FTSE 250 safety, health and environment technology group Halma reported a rise in first-quarter revenues and order intake and said the weaker pound could provide a boost.

In a trading update for the quarter ended 2 July, the company said it has continued to make good progress in line with its expectations, with revenue ahead of the same period last year.

Order intake, meanwhile, was ahead of revenue and above order intake in the first quarter of the previous year.

Halma said it saw strong revenue growth in the Infrastructure Safety and Medical sectors, with steady progress in the Environmental and Analysis sector.

As expected, revenue in Process Safety fell, the company said, adding that based on improving order intake trends and continued diversification, the sector is better positioned to improve its performance as the year progresses.

Halma said it experienced revenue growth in all of its major geographic regions, with the highest in the USA and mainland Europe.

In addition, the company said that if the pound continues to be weak against the dollar and the euro for the rest of the current financial year, this would likely have a positive impact on the group’s results.

It said a 1% movement in the US dollar changes full-year revenue by £4.3m and profit by £900,000. Meanwhile, a 1% movement in the euro changes full-year revenue by £1.1m and profit by £200,000.

“The board remains confident that the resilient and global long-term growth drivers in our chosen markets will continue to underpin Halma's growth. Our focus on safety, health and environmental technologies together with our agile organisational model, which encourages local decision making within each subsidiary company, ensures that our business is able to adapt quickly to changing market conditions.

“We continue to identify potential acquisition opportunities that meet our strategic and financial criteria.”

At 0955 BST, Halma shares were down 1% to 1,028p.