Judges Scientific measuring record profits

28th Sep 2011 09:01

Judges Scientific, the Sussex based manufacturer of scientific instruments, saw its share price price rise nearly 5% in early trading Wednesday on the back of record sales and profits.Sales in the first of the year hit £9.7m, up 27% on the equivalent period of 2010 while adjusted pre-tax profits reached £1.77m, a rise of 21%.The only tiny dark spot is net debt, which stands at £3.1m following the recent acquisition of Deben, the microscopy specialist.Chairman of Judges, Alex Hambro highlighted the "strong trading outcome" of the last six months but also sounded a slight note of caution:"The group has entered the second half of the financial year with good visibility but your board is mindful that the renewed stresses within the global financial system may affect some of the drivers of our growth.""Since the July trading update, signs of weakness in the world economy have worsened and confidence in the global financial system is again stretched to the limit. Nevertheless, at this stage, trading in the second half has started vigorously," Hambro revealed.The group proposed an interim dividend of 3.3p (2010 H1: 2.5p)BS