Halma Plc (LON:HLMA), the leading safety, health and environmental technology group, today released its trading update, for the period from 1 October 2018 to date.
Halma has made good progress in the period. Based on current trading and forecasts, the Board expects adjusted profit before tax for the year ending 31 March 2019 to be in line with market consensus expectations (see notes 1 and 2).
There has been widespread revenue growth geographically. The USA and the UK have seen the strongest growth, with more moderate growth in Mainland Europe and Asia Pacific. Order intake has remained ahead of revenue and the same period last year. There has been a positive currency translation effect on Group revenue and profit in the second half, resulting in a broadly neutral effect for the year as a whole.
The Safety sectors have performed in line with expectations, with the strongest progress in Infrastructure Safety, supported by positive contributions from recent acquisitions. Process Safety is expected to deliver a satisfactory performance for the full year despite planned reorganisation costs in the second half. The Medical and Environmental & Analysis sectors remain on track to deliver good full-year performances.
We made three acquisitions in the second half, all in Infrastructure Safety, for a total initial consideration of approximately £62 million. The acquisitions of Limotec and Navtech were reported in the Group’s half year results announcement. In January 2019, we announced the acquisition of Rath Communications, a provider of emergency communication systems for Areas of Refuge in the USA, for US$42.4 million (£32.6 million). The integrations of all acquisitions made during the year are progressing well, and the acquisition pipeline remains healthy in all four sectors.
The Group’s financial position is robust and cash generation remains strong, supporting investment in both organic and acquisitive growth.
The results for the year ending 31 March 2019 will be released on 11 June 2019.
About Halma
Halma is a global group of life-saving technology companies, focused on growing a safer, cleaner and healthier future for people worldwide. Our innovative products and solutions address many of the key issues facing the world today. We operate in four sectors: Process Safety, Infrastructure Safety, Medical and Environmental & Analysis. We employ over 6,000 people in more than 20 countries, with major operations in Europe, the USA and Asia-Pacific. We target global niche markets where sustainable growth and high returns are supported by long-term drivers. Halma is listed on the London Stock Exchange and has been a member of the FTSE 100 index since December 2017.
