Record first quarter for Renishaw

Precision tool maker Renishaw chiselled out record revenues for the July - September quarter, with the top line over a third higher year-on-year.

Revenue in the three months to the end of September - the first quarter of the firm's financial year- saw group revenue rise 36% to £95.9m from £70.5m the year before. Profit before tax for the first quarter amounted to £28.3m, compared with £13.6m last year, an increase of 108%.

The metrology business was singled out for a special mention, as it achieved sales growth of 38%, reflecting major sales to the consumer electronics industry. Healthcare revenue was at a similar level to the comparable period last year.

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Geographically, the Far East, specifically China, more than doubled its revenue for the quarter compared to the corresponding period last year. Revenues for Europe and the Americas were broadly in line with last year, while the UK, a smaller geographical area in terms of revenue, showed a 27% increase.

Chairman and Chief Executive Sir David McMurtry conceded that the cost base has continued to increase as the group has had to take on additional staff, mainly on the engineering side, to support its growing revenue and demand for production resource. The group has also been pumping money into its research and development programmes.

Group headcount at the end of September 2012 was 3,018, an increase of 114 from the 2,904 from July 1st, the start of the current financial year.

The group's net cash balances, excluding the escrow account relating to security for the UK defined benefit pension scheme, stood at £18,4m at the end of September, down from £21.1m on June 30th.

"We have had a strong start to the year, however, it is still very early in our financial year and the order book remains at approximately one month's revenue. There is still much uncertainty surrounding worldwide economic growth rates," McMurty said.

"With the group's broad geographical market coverage, however, and focus on global investment in production systems and processes, the board remains confident of a further year of progress," McMurty added.

JH