Intertek Group PLC (LON:ITRK) said its clients’ operations have yet to fully recover after hurricanes devastated parts of the US, sending its shares lower.
The London-based provider of inspection, product testing and certification said in a trading update the storms in the southern regions of the US disrupted the operations of clients in August, September and October.
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The operational disruptions hurt the group’s Cargo/AA, Building & Construction and Industry Services businesses, cutting revenue by £5mln at constant currency over August to October.
This included a £1.5mln revenue impact to the products division, £2.8m to the trade arm and £0.7mln to resources.
Shares fell 3.15% to 5,235p in early trading.
“The operations of our clients are not yet back to the level seen prior to the storms,” Intertek said. “As the region continues to rebuild from the widespread impact caused, we expect the ramp up in activities of our clients' operations to continue in the months ahead.”
Hurricane Harvey caused significant flooding in Texas and Lousiana in late August while Hurricane Irma devastated Florida in September.
Despite the disruption caused by the natural disasters, revenue in the first 10 months of the year to October 31 increased 9.8% at actual exchange rates or 3.0% at constant currencies to £2.3bn
Organic revenue edged up 1.9% at constant rates with products up 5.5%, trade up 4% and resources up 10.3%.
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Growth was driven by a solid performance of recent acquisitions, including Italian food quality and safety services firm Food Institute Trust, cyber security and assurance firm EWA-Canada Ltd and German vehicle, component and fuel testing provider KJ Tech Services GmbH.
In November of last year, the group also formed an environmental and food services joint venture with Laboratorios ABC Química Investigación y Análisis S.A. de C.V.
“We are on track to deliver our 2017 targets of solid organic revenue growth at constant rates, with robust margin expansion at constant currency and strong cash conversion,” said chief executive Andre Lacroix.