The FTSE 100’s “most consistent money-making machine” has done it again, says Rober Lea in The Times. Shares in Halma, a conglomerate focusing on safety, environmental protection and healthcare, are near all-time highs.
Despite fears earlier this year that the group’s 50 companies, which operate autonomously from each other, would be hit by US president Donald Trump’s tariffs, the latest results show that there is “nothing to worry about”. Sales rose 11% and profits 16% in the year to 31 March 2025. Halma has now enjoyed “a 22nd consecutive year of profitable growth and a 46th successive year of rising dividends”.
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Most of this revenue comes from companies in America, and they won’t directly face tariffs themselves. But the trade barriers will create a “much more volatile trading environment”, with an increased level of uncertainty, which could make it much more “challenging” to achieve the group’s forecasts.
Halma's strength through diversification
The knock-on effects of US tariffs on domestic companies “could eventually result in reduced corporate spending”, which could dampen demand for Halma’s products, says Keith Bowman for Interactive Investor. What’s more, currency movements are also expected to hamper progress in the year ahead.
Still, a wide array of products and geographical regions means that any poor performance in one area could be compensated for by positives in another. What’s more, the fact that health and safety related products “are arguably required whatever the economic backdrop” lends an additional degree of security to this well-managed outfit. Halma is poised to benefit from “some resilient long-term growth drivers”, says Hargreaves Lansdown’s Matt Britzman. These include “increasing demand for healthcare, tighter safety regulations, and growing global efforts to address climate change, waste and pollution”.
It even has some exposure to the AI boom, with particularly strong growth coming from one of its firms that plays a critical role in AI data centres. Halma’s ability to generate large amounts of cash has also helped cut debt, which should support future acquisitions, while there is also the company’s “stellar track record” of growing the dividend.
Still, says AJ Bell’s Russ Mould, with the stock on 36 times forward earnings, an “enormous amount of good news” is now priced in. Investors should be wary of “mistaking the reliability of Halma’s business model for safety”. The higher the valuation goes, “the less safe the shares may be, especially in the event of any unexpected, wider market convulsion”.
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