Smith & Nephew PLC (LON:SN.) saw its shares rise this morning as the artificial hip and knee maker left its full-year guidance unchanged as it posted 3% growth in underlying first-half revenues, although reported growth was flat.
The FTSE 100-listed firm saw its first-half underlying revenue increase to US$2.336bn, up from US$2,328bn a year earlier, with second-quarter growth also of 3% to US$1.194bn.
The revenue growth, which was in line with Smith & Nephew’s 3% to 4% forecast for the year, was helped by 13% growth in emerging markets.
READ: Tough market conditions in China and the Gulf States weigh as Smith & Nephew's 2016 profits miss forecasts
The company’s first-half trading profit was US$493mln, up from US$483mln a year earlier, and above the US$488mln consensus forecast.
Smith & Nephew’s chief executive Olivier Bohuon, said: "I am pleased with the first half of 2017, where our focus on execution is delivering improvements in performance at the top and bottom line. In particular, we have returned the Emerging Markets to double-digit growth and driven strong returns from disruptive innovations in areas such as Knee Implants and Negative Pressure Wound Therapy”
He added: “ We are taking good momentum into the second half and I am confident that we are on-track to deliver our full year revenue and trading margin guidance, which is unchanged.”
The firm maintained its interim dividend at 12.3 US cents per share.
In early trading, Smith & Nephew shares were up 2.5%, or 32p at 1,333p.