Sales tick higher at revamped Marlowe

Marlowe has gone through a major restructuring this year, including selling its governance, risk and compliance (GRC) assets in a £430m deal, and demerging its occupational health unit. The business, renamed Optima Health, debuted on AIM in September.

As result, Marlow is now a pure-play testing, inspection and certification (TIC) business.

Posting results for the six months to 30 September, it confirmed that all integration programmes and restructuring investments had now completed, in line with market guidance.

Revenues from continuing operations rose 4 to £151.7m, while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation eased 1% to £15.3m. Marlowe attributed the decline to margin decreases in the water and air hygiene business.

Statutory group pre-tax profits, boosted by profits on it’s the GRC divestment, were £161.7m, compared to a pre-tax loss of £8.9m a year previously.

Lord Ashcroft, the former Conservative Party treasurer and interim chair, said: "The group has undergone significant change in the period, to focus on the attractive TIC market.

"The group has a strong balance sheet and is well-positioned to drive organic growth, margin enhancement and strong cash generation."