The future is looking bright at Renishaw, the measurement and medical device manufacturer, with sales looking set to rise even more after a record half year for revenue.
The company saw revenue growth of 11% during the second six months of 2011 compared to the same period of 200. The company says its total revenue of £147m for the period is a half year record.
Renishaw says it is expecting recovery in the electronics sector, while global investment in production systems in automotive, civil aviation, agriculture and energy looks "increasingly favourable".
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Despite this strong news, Renishaw did see interim pre-tax profits drop from £35m in 2010 to £31m in 2011. The company says the drop in profitability was due to significant investments in staff and infrastructure to support growth.
The company has maintained its interim dividend payment at 10.3p per share.
Geographically, revenue in Europe increased by 25% over the comparable period and the Americas were ahead by 23%.
In the Far East, Japan grew by 12% versus 2010 but Renishaw saw revenues dropped by 17% in the rest of the Far East including China. It says this was due to a world-wide slowdown in the micro-electronics and opto-electronics markets.
Renishaw is divided into two divisions: Metrology, which makes measurement equipment and is by far its biggest business (revenues of £136m); and Healthcare, which makes diagnostic equipment for the medical industry.
The group has withdrawn from the supply of radio frequency coils for use in MRI scanning research and this, combined with the outcome of a business review, has resulted in a number of staff being reallocated away from Healthcare into Metrology.
The group's headcount at the end of December 2011 was 2,701, an increase of 26 since the start of the financial year and 421 more than at the end of 2010. Today's update says "the board continues to closely monitor the group's costs and future recruitment strategy in order to improve profit margins."
Net cash balances at December 31st were £26.6m, compared with £34.6m at the end of June. These include an escrow account amounting to £11.1m relating to provisions for the group's defined benefit pension scheme.
Shares in Renishaw have dropped 12.8% in the last 12 months. Today they had risen 13.3% by 9am.
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