Smiths Group raises dividend following strong half-year results

Smiths Group has rewarded shareholders with a six per cent increase in dividend after posting a rise in half-year revenue and profit, the company announced Wednesday.

The firm, which has divisions across threat and contraband detection, medical devices, energy, communication and engineering, issued a dividend of 12.50p per share for the six months to January 31st 2013.

It came on back of a 6.0% year-on-year jump in underlying headline revenue of £1.4bn, as the company achieved strong performance across all its units including John Crane, Smiths Medical, Smiths Detection, Smiths Interconnect and Flex Trek.

Smiths Detection, the division which designs sensors that detect explosives and weapons, experienced the biggest growth as revenues climbed 19% following the release of new products.

Pre-tax profit came to £223m, an underlying growth of 6.0% on the previous year.

"Smiths Group has continued to make good progress with underlying revenue growth across all its businesses," Chief Executive Philip Bowman said.

"Looking to the second half, we see tough trading conditions as a result of the US medical device tax, slower demand in some parts of John Crane, and the impact of further government budget cuts. However, despite these challenges, there remain significant opportunities to generate value for shareholders over the medium term.

"We will continue to focus on investing to drive sales growth, and delivering further operational improvements, while maintaining strong cash conversion and improved returns."

RD