Halma, the leading safety, health and environmental technology group, has released its trading update and based on current trading and forecasts, the Board expects adjusted profit before tax for the year ending 31st March 2019 to be in line with market consensus expectations.

There has been widespread revenue growth geographically. USA and UK have seen the strongest growth, with more moderate growth in Mainland Europe and Asia Pacific. Order intake has remained ahead of revenue for the same period last year. There has been a positive currency translation effect on Group revenue and profit in the second half, resulting in a broadly neutral effect for the year as a whole.

The safety sectors have performed in line with expectations, with the strongest progress in infrastructure safety, supported by positive contributions from recent acquisitions. Process safety is expected to deliver a satisfactory performance for the full year despite planned reorganisation costs in the second half. The medical and environmental & analysis sectors remain on track to deliver good full-year performances.

 

The company made three acquisitions in the second half, all in infrastructure safety, for a total initial consideration of approximately £62 million. The acquisitions of Limotec and Navtech were reported in the Group’s half year results announcement. In January 2019, it announced the acquisition of Rath Communications, a provider of emergency communication systems for areas of refuge in USA, for $42.4 million (£32.6 million). The integrations of all acquisitions made during the year are progressing well, and the acquisition pipeline remains healthy in all 

four sectors.

 

The Group’s financial position is robust and cash generation remains strong, supporting investment in both organic and acquisitive growth.