Spectris director trims stake

Roger Stephens, Head of Commercial and Company Secretary of Spectris, the FTSE 250 high-flying instrumentation and controls group, has sold a stack of shares in the firm less than a month after the firm unveiled better-than-expected profits before tax and hike in the dividend.

Stephens, who joined the firm in 1997, sold 38,343 at 1,763.55p each for a total of £676,194. Having been awarded the shares in 2009, the director was eligible to sell the shares from the 25th of last month. He now holds a total of 69,023.

Adjusted profit before tax rose 45% to £191.6m from £132.3m the year before. Statutory profit before tax rose 38% to £166.0m from £119.9m in 2010. Market expectations were for headline profit before tax of £185.5m.

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Sales broke through the billion pounds barrier, rising 23% to £1,106.2m in 2011 from £901.9m in 2010. Acquisitions contributed 7% to sales and currency had a positive impact of 1%, so with these stripped out sales growth was 15%. The adjusted return on sales - i.e. the operating margin - improved to 18.2% from 15.8% in 2010.

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