Halma PLC (LON:HLMA) has said it expects its full-year results to be in line with market expectations, with the safety, health and environmental technology group experiencing widespread revenue growth geographically.
In a trading update for the period from 1 October 2018 to date, the FTSE 100-listed said it expects its adjusted pre-tax profit for the year ending 31 March 2019 to be in line with market consensus expectations based on current trading and forecasts.
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The company said the USA and the UK have seen the strongest growth, with more moderate growth in Mainland Europe and the Asia Pacific, and order intake has remained ahead of revenue and the same period last year.
It added that 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.
Looking at its divisions, Halma said the Safety sectors have performed in line with expectations, with the strongest progress in Infrastructure Safety, supported by positive contributions from recent acquisitions.
It added that Process Safety is expected to deliver satisfactory performance for the full year despite planned reorganisation costs in the second half.
And it said the Medical and Environmental & Analysis sectors remain on track to deliver good full-year performances.
Acquisition pipeline remains healthy
Halma noted that the integration of all the acquisitions it has made during the year is progressing well, and the acquisition pipeline remains healthy in all four sectors.
The company added that its financial position is robust and cash generation remains strong, supporting investment in both organic and acquisitive growth.
It said it will release its results for the year ending 31 March 2019 on 11 June 2019.
In afternoon trading, Halma shares had moved 0.2% higher to 1,664p.
In a note to clients, analysts at Shore Capital said: “We continue to believe Halma is in a good position for further growth opportunities given the headroom in the balance sheet for further M&A and investment (Net/debt 0.6x) whilst the pipeline for acquisitions remain strong.”
They added: “In our view, Halma is great quality business but the valuations continue to look stretched given the current growth rates.”
Shore Capital maintained a ‘hold’ rating on Halma shares.
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