Halma revenues lifted by safety divisions

24th Jul 2014 11:36

Despite a mixed performance across its divisions and regions, health and safety group Halma reported organic revenue growth momentum continued into the first quarter of its new financial year.The FTSE 250 group achieved order intake at 103% of revenue, which, together with the three acquisitions completed in the first quarter, after a year with no new deals, has positioned the company to make further progress in the year ahead. The Process Safety division performed well with growth from the USA, Mainland Europe, Middle East and South America offsetting lower revenue from Asia Pacific. The Infrastructure Safety sector experience "solid" progress, with growth in both the UK and mainland Europe. The Medical division had a slower start to the year but the group said it was gaining momentum with good underlying growth in the USA and South America. The picture was more mixed in Environmental & Analysis, which saw revenue growth in mainland Europe and Asia Pacific, but faced challenges in both the US and UK, with revenue in the latter affected by lower spending by water utilities, which are now in the final year of their five-year investment cycle.Broker Investec said: "Last year, the strongest organic profit growth was seen in the two Safety divisions and trading so far in the new financial year suggests that they will again underpin a good performance for the group"Shares in the company were up 1.58% to 575.5p by 11:40.NR