Spectris earnings down on mixed global markets

Mixed global conditions made 2015 a rocky ride for Spectris, with the company's full year results to 31 December - released on Tuesday - showing increased sales, but depressed earnings.

The FTSE 250 firm, focused on productivity-enhancing instruments and controls, saw sales grow by 3% at constant exchange rates to £1.19bn.

Spectris said that comprised entirely of three percentage points of growth from acquisitions, with like-for-like sales unchanged for the year.

On a regional basis, the company reported good sales growth in Europe at 3% and a slight increase to sales in Asia. Sales to North America were down 2%, and the Rest of World segment was down 9%, which the firm blamed on weakness in Russia.

Operating profit was down 9% on a like-for-like basis to £181.1m, after the inclusion of £7m in restructuring costs to improve profitability going forward. Its operating profit was down 15% on a statutory basis.

"2015 was characterised by mixed trading conditions, with growth in Europe and Asia offset by a challenging environment in North America and the Rest of the World," said chief executive John O'Higgins.

"We are on track with the restructuring measures announced last July. The benefits of these, together with our focus on operational excellence initiatives, will enable us to better align cost growth with sales growth in 2016 whilst continuing to invest in our core R&D programmes," he added.

During 2015, the group began its refined strategy in a bid to focus on certain growth opportunities, which saw it shift its focus from the supply of products to the provision of 'complete solutions' to clients.

Basic earnings per share were down 16% to 95.6p, while adjusted earnings per share - which excluded non-operational items - were down 8% to 114.3p.

Spectris announced a dividend 6% higher than the previous year, at 49.5p per share.