Confident Intertek whacks up divi

Intertek, the international provider of quality and safety services, has delivered soaring revenues and strong profit growth in the six months to the end of June.

The interim profit before tax was up 26.6% to £140.0m from £110.6m the year before, while revenue rose 29.9%, or 9.9% on a like-for-like constant currency basis, to £991.0m from £763.1m the year before, principally due to strong organic growth. The marked difference between the overall growth rate and the like-for-like rate reflects the acquisition of, and very strong subsequent growth in, the Moody International business.

Operating profit was up 28.2% to £152.2m (2011: £118.7m), while diluted earnings per share increased by 28.2% from 45.4p to 58.2p.

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Cash flow from operations increased by 29.6% to £118.1m, mainly due to strong profit growth.

Wolfhart Hauser, Chief Executive Officer, said: "Our businesses continue to perform well. Within energy and commodities end-markets we are seeing very good demand for global quality services. We made further progress on improving the group's underlying organic margin, whilst the total operating margin reduced slightly due to the dilutive effect of exceptional growth in Moody.

"Global economic conditions are becoming increasingly uncertain; however, with the group's balanced industry and geographic portfolio, we continue to expect to grow revenue at high single digits on an organic constant currency basis for the full year."

Following good progress during the first half and considering the outlook for the group, the board has approved a 21.5% increase in the interim dividend to 13p per share.

The share price rose 1.93% to 2,743p by 08:44.

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