Smiths Group share price falls as company’s H1 profit slips

Smiths Group Plc (LON:SMIN) today reported its results for the first half of its financial year, which revealed that the company’s performance in the period had suffered from unfavourable currency movements. The UK engineering group said that its first-half reported revenue fell two percent to £1.42 billion, from a year earlier. Challenging trading conditions at the detection and Interconnect units also had a negative impact on the company’s revenue.

On an underlying basis the company saw revenue growth of one percent, driven by the Smiths Medical, Flex-Tek and John Crane divisions.Smiths Group’s chief executive officer Philip Bowman commented:
“Smiths Group delivered underlying revenue growth.” He continued: “Improvements at Smiths Medical, John Crane and Flex-Tek more than offset revenue declines at Smiths Detection and Smiths Interconnect where tough trading conditions persist. The reported results were held back by adverse foreign exchange.”
Smiths Group’s H1 pre-tax profit came in at £208 million, down three percent from the corresponding period a year earlier. Basic earnings per share were 38.5p, down from 39.5p. Looking ahead, the company said it expected to deliver improved underlying performance in the second half of the fiscal year.
In today’s trading, Smiths Group shares were up one percent at 1,166.44p, as of 09:13 UTC. The stock has risen 6.4 percent since the start of the year. The company’s market capitalisation currently stands at £4.6 billion.
In a separate statement to the London Stock Exchange today, Smiths Group announced the appointment of Rob White as interim chief financial officer. The appointment is effective from April 25, assuming that no permanent replacement has been appointed in the meantime. White will replace Peter Turner, who previously announced that he would step down from the post on April 24, to pursue opportunities outside the company. According to the statement, White has been the global finance chief of Smiths Group’s medical unit for the last six years.
As of 11:30 GMT, Wednesday, 18 March, Smiths Group plc share price is 1,168.00p.