Renishaw downgrades full-year guidance

Renishaw downgraded its full-year outlook on Friday amid lower demand from the semiconductor and electronics sectors.

The company said it now expects full-year revenues of between £680m and £700m, and adjusted pre-tax profit of £135m and £150m. This is down from previous guidance for revenues of £690m to £730m and adjusted pre-tax profit of between £140m and £165m.

In an update for the nine months to the end of March, Renishaw said total revenue rose 6% on the same period a year earlier to £492.4m, while adjusted pre-tax profit fell 10% to £111.8m.

Revenue in the manufacturing technologies segment increased 6% to £496.7m, while revenue in analytical instruments and medical devices was just 1% higher at £25.3m.

Renishaw said: "We expect current market conditions to continue during the remainder of this financial year. We continue to invest in innovative new products and manufacturing capacity to support our growth objectives, whilst managing costs carefully and focusing on productivity."

At 1450 BST, the shares were down 3% at 3,560p.

Jefferies reiterated its 'underperform' rating on the shares after the update. It said: "We believe that market expectations were set low, so this downgrade may not come as a major surprise.

"Our view, however, is that market conditions will continue through the remainder of calendar 2023, and therefore we see DD downgrade risk to FY24F estimates as well, which will pressure the share price."