Revenue rises at Halma, but pre-tax profit falls

22nd Nov 2011 09:19

Halma, the safety, health and environmental technology group, saw its revenue rise 12%, but cost increases led to almost a 50% fall in profit before taxation. Revenue grew from £49.3m to £57.5m on a like-for-like basis, while total pre-tax profit fell from £98.3m to £51.3m. Andrew Williams, chief executive of Halma, said: "Halma remains on track to make further progress in the second half. The diversity of our niche end-markets and our operational structure of locally managed and agile businesses have proved to be major strengths during challenging circumstances. "We will continue to focus on achieving growth and high returns in the short term whilst maintaining investment to support growth in the medium term."Although there are significant global economic uncertainties, our structure of decentralised management and the underpinning of demand from fundamental growth drivers have proved to be resilient in difficult markets. Halma remains on track to make further progress in the second half."The firm increased the interim dividend by 7% to 3.79p per share, which the firm said reflects the board's continuing confidence in Halma's long-term growth prospects.Cash remained stable, rising slightly from £40.69m to £41.67m. The share price fell 0.63% to 316.2p by 09:54.NR