Hi-tech engineering group Renishaw has brushed aside any thoughts of a global slowdown with record annual pre-tax profits of £80.4m – up 203% on a year ago while basic earnings per share were up 208%.
Total revenues for the year at the group, which specialises in metrology and healthcare, were £288.7m in the year to June 30 – including £8.9m from acquisitions – 59% ahead of the £181.6m for last year and 43% above the group’s previous highest annual revenue of £201.2m in 2008.
Chairman and founder Sir David McMurtry said all geographic areas had seen good progress, with growth of 64% in Europe, 57% in the Americas and 61% in the Far East, particularly in China, which has become Renishaw’s largest market with revenues up from £34.2m to £54.2m.
Profits at the group, based at Wotton-under-Edge, were double the previous record of £41.7m set in 2008.
Adjusted earnings per share were 88.0p, an increase of 178% over last year’s adjusted figure of 31.6p. Reported earnings per share were 90.3p against 29.3p in 2010.
Sir David said the metrology business was particularly strong with revenues up from £162.1m to £267m. Growth was achieved across all product lines, particularly from machine tool and encoder products. Operating profits for this segment, at £87.4m, were up 177% on last year.
During the year Renishaw paid £3.9m for a 49% stake in Measurement Devices Limited (MDL) – a metrology company whose laser scanner products are primarily marketed in marine positioning, mining, quarrying and surveying. MDL will become a 100% Renishaw subsidiary in 2014.
The group paid £3.8m for MTT Investments, which designs, develops and manufactures additive manufacturing and rapid prototyping systems, including selective laser melting, metal casting, and vacuum casting machines and processes. Based in Stone, Staffordshire, it has 40 employees and subsidiaries in the US and Italy with a branch office in France.
MTT’s selective laser melting equipment’s main markets are in aerospace and medical devices, but also have potential in other sectors. Its products are complementary to Renishaw’s existing technologies and business.
A third deal was made last month when Renishaw agreed to pay Aberlink Innovative Metrology £6m for calibration technology and software, together with drawings, designs and intellectual property relating to optical technology to expand its technology portfolio.
Meanwhile Renishaw’s healthcare operation continues to develop its spectroscopy business and its newer dental, neuro and diagnostic activities. Revenue from healthcare products rose 11% to £21.7m.
Expenditure on property included refurbishment of its Charfield factory, larger premises in Barcelona for its Spanish sales and marketing operation, expansion of its Indian production facility in Pune, which opened in March, and
agreement to pay £7.7m for 461,000 sq ft of premises on a 193-acre site in Miskin, South Wales, around 55 miles its Charfield head office.
The group, which made redundancies in the UK during the depth of the recession, grew its workforce by 576 during the year to stand at 2,675 at the end of June. It has 267 outstanding vacancies – 139 in the UK and 128 overseas.
Sir David concluded: “There continue to be many challenges to be met and overcome, not least the recruitment and absorption of new employees, the occupation of new premises, the integration of newly-acquired companies and the ongoing development of Renishaw technologies. Nevertheless the directors confidently expect the current progress of the group to continue due to the increased opportunities and the underlying strength of our markets.”
A final dividend of 24.7p per share will give a total for the year of 35p. This compares with 17.6p last year and 25.4p in 2008, Renishaw’s previous highest dividend.
