1 August 2022 – Spectris plc (SXS: LSE), the expert in providing insight through precision measurement,
announces half year results for the six months ended 30 June 2022.
A more focused, more profitable, more resilient business, delivering strong growth
- Continuing strong demand and growth, delivering good financial performance
- 20% like-for-like (‘LFL’)1 order growth; record order book provides strong visibility into H2
- 11% LFL sales growth driven by market share gains; statutory reported sales up 6%
- Adjusted operating margin maintained at 12.7%; statutory operating margin 9.5%
- Increased investment in R&D, up from 7.6% to 8.3% of sales
- Confidence in high single digit organic sales growth and margin expansion for the full year
- Further simplification of the Group
- Sale of Omega completed, £410 million headline proceeds in July, delivering significant shareholder value and further improving the quality of the Group
- Strong balance sheet and capital allocation policy in action
- Increasing investment for growth; 17% increase in R&D spending; higher capex for facility
expansion at PMS; higher working capital to support order book execution - £150 million of share buyback programme completed; remaining £150 million re-starting
- Dividend per share increase of 5%
- Acquisitions announced across all divisions, with capacity for further value-enhancing M&A
- Increasing investment for growth; 17% increase in R&D spending; higher capex for facility
- Sustainability at the core of our strategy
- Joined the UN Global Compact in support of our commitment
- Well positioned in attractive end markets, with strong fundamentals, supported by key
sustainability themes
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1 Alternative performance measures (‘APMs’) are used consistently throughout this press release and are referred to as ‘adjusted’ or ‘like-for-like’ (‘LFL’). These are defined in full and reconciled to the reported statutory measures in the appendix.
2The Omega business has been classified as a discontinued operation and the assets and liabilities have been classified as held for sale.
Accordingly, the financial statements for the current and comparative periods have been amended and show continuing operations.
Commenting on the results, Andrew Heath, Chief Executive, said: “Over the past three years, we have transformed the Group into a more focused, more profitable and more resilient business, with the ability to compound growth at a higher rate through the cycle. Today, Spectris is in a position of strength with a robust balance sheet, well positioned in attractive end markets, with strong fundamentals, supported by key sustainability themes to deliver structural growth. We have fantastic, engaged people all contributing to a purpose-led, high-performance growth culture.
I am pleased with our progress in the first half of 2022. We are continuing to see healthy demand for our products and services, with strong LFL growth in both orders and sales. While vigilant to the macro environment and alert to signs of changes in demand, we have confidence in our business and have increased our investment for growth in R&D, to enhance our customer offerings. With our current order visibility, we expect to deliver high single digit organic sales growth and margin expansion for the full year, supported by the Spectris Business System and pricing already in the order book. The successful sale of Omega delivered significant shareholder value; demonstrating our continued portfolio discipline, as we further improve the quality of the Group.
The next stage of our strategy will advance our ambition to be a leading sustainable business, delivering on our purpose to help make the world cleaner, healthier and more productive. We will build on the platform we have created to deliver strong, sustainable organic growth through the cycle, alongside continued margin expansion. We look forward to sharing more details at our upcoming Capital Markets Day in October.”
Contacts:
Spectris plc
Siobhán Andrews
Head of Corporate Affairs
+44 20 4551 4549/+44 7920 230093
Tulchan Communications
Martin Robinson
Giles Kernick
+44 20 7353 4200
Conference call
A webcast of the presentation will be made available on-demand from 07.00 and a Q&A conference call for analysts and investors will be hosted by Andrew Heath, Chief Executive, and Derek Harding, Chief Financial Officer, at 10.00 today to discuss this statement. To access the call, please dial +44 (0) 20 3936 2999/0800 640 6441 – Pin code: 441101. Or for replay, please dial +44 (0) 20 3936 3001 – Pin code: 318025. Copies of this press release are available to the public from the registered office at Melbourne House, 44-46 Aldwych, London, WC2B 4LL and on the Company’s website at www.spectris.com.
About Spectris
Spectris’ global group of businesses are focused on delivering value beyond measure for all our stakeholders. We target global, attractive and sustainable markets, where growth and high returns are supported by long-term drivers. Precision is at the heart of what we do. We provide customers with expert insight through our advanced instruments and test equipment, augmented by the power of our software and services. This equips customers with the ability to reduce time to market, improve processes, quality and yield. In this way, Spectris know-how creates value for our wider society, as our customers design, develop, test and manufacture their products to make the world a cleaner, healthier and more productive place. Headquartered in London, United Kingdom, the Company employs< approximately 7,350 people located in more than 30 countries. For more information, visit www.spectris.com.