Spectris sees 'resilient' end to the year

By Benjamin Chiou

Date: Friday 19 Oct 2012

Spectris saw a robust performance in the final quarter of its financial year and while like-for-like (LFL) sales growth had slowed from the first half, analysts said that this was as expected.

The instrumentation and controls company said that reported sales during the last quarter were up 12%. This included a 13% contribution from acquisitions and a negative currency effect of 3%, the firm said.

On a constant currency organic (LFL) basis, sales for the three months to September 30th were up 2%.

"The company saw LFL growth across all four segments during the period albeit at a slower pace than in the first half of this year."

Jefferies reiterated its 'buy' rating for the stock this morning saying: "Spectris has modest visibility, and hence outlook statements are typically limited in terms of the guidance given to the market (...) This is a resilient performance and better than many will have feared, with slower growth versus 1H12, reflecting the macro-economic environment - this has been anticipated by the market."

Asia Pacific LFL sales grew by 6% with China driving growth with LFL sales up 15%. North American LFL sales increased by 1% while European LFL sales were down 2%.

"The board believes that Spectris remains well positioned to deliver on its expectations for the year as it realises both the benefits of its recent acquisitions, especially Omega, and the increase in the proportion of resilient revenues generated in the business," the company said.

Net debt at the end of the period was £290m.

By 08:19, shares had jumped 7.32% to 1,710.72p.

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