FTSE 250 movers: Hikma, Rotork shine, Renishaw slips

FTSE 250: 19,373.11 +0.65%.

Specialist engineer Rotork said it expected adjusted operating profit to be slightly ahead of expectations driven by strong order intake.

Sales for the three months to April 2 rose 18% against a more supply-chain disrupted comparative period and benefited from both volume and selling price increases, with all divisions and regions ahead year-on-year and with particularly strong growth in the Americas, the company said on Friday.

Order intake was ahead a mid-teen percentage year-on-year on an organic constant currency basis, with all divisions making “encouraging progress”, Rotork said.

“Our orders continue to be driven largely by customers' operational spend. In addition, in the period we saw a return of a relatively high level of large project activity.”

“The outlook for our end markets remains positive and our record order book gives us good visibility into the second half of the year. We are encouraged by the early momentum we are seeing with our growth+ strategy and are investing in the programme as planned. Whilst we are cognisant of the continuing global macro-economic uncertainty, we now expect 2023 adjusted operating profit to be slightly ahead of our earlier expectations.”

Hikma Pharmaceuticals upgraded full-year guidance after a stronger-than-expected start to the year for its generics business but expressed concern about the impact of the current conflict in Sudan on operations.

"The safety and wellbeing of our colleagues in Sudan is a top priority and we are doing what we can to support them. Our current guidance does not take into account any potential impact this evolving situation could have on our business. In 2022 sales from Sudan in our branded and injectables businesses represented 2.5% of group revenue," the company said on Friday.

"We have also had a stronger than expected start in our generics business, leading us to upgrade our guidance for the full year."

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."

FTSE 250 - Risers

Rotork (ROR) 327.60p +3.74%

Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,834.50p +3.64%

Bakkavor Group (BAKK) 99.00p +3.56%

Rathbones Group (RAT) 1,962.00p +3.15%

Genuit Group (GEN) 300.00p +3.09%

CLS Holdings (CLI) 134.40p +3.07%

Urban Logistics Reit (SHED) 140.40p +2.78%

Dr. Martens (DOCS) 167.30p +2.64%

Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 268.00p +2.52%

Redrow (RDW) 521.00p +2.46%

FTSE 250 - Fallers