Halma reported a 13% rise in first-half revenue to £1.1bn. That reflected an 11.5% rise in organic revenue, excluding currency impacts. There was double-digit growth in the Safety and Environmental & Analysis sectors, with a marginal increase in Healthcare.
Underlying operating profit rose 14.8% to £222.5mn, driven by top-line growth and improving margins.
So far this year, seven acquisitions have been made, four in the first half and three since the end of the period, for a cost of around £158mn. Free cash flow rose from £135.4mn to £170.8mn. Net debt, including leases, fell 1.0% to £646.7mn since the start of the period.
Full-year guidance is unchanged, pointing to “good” organic revenue growth and an underlying operating margin of around 21%, in the middle of its target range.
The Board has declared an increase of 7% in the interim dividend to 9.00p per share.
The shares rose 9.7% in early trading.
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Halma key facts
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