Shares in innovative West of England precision engineering group Renishaw fell by more than 15% today after it warned that a lack of orders from the Far East would hit sales and profits.
The Wotton-under-Edge-based group, which makes machine tool probes and gauges used in factories across the globe, generates about half its revenues in the Far East. Shares later recovered to close down just over 8%.
Renishaw is one of the West of England’s best-performing businesses over recent decades. It has won dozens of awards for innovation and for its huge export sales. 
But it said in a trading update to shareholders today: “Revenue last year benefited from a number of large orders in the Far East which have not been repeated to the same extent this year.
“We have now received information that indicates we are unlikely to achieve the trading levels previously anticipated at the time of our half year results announcement in January 2016.
“We are continuing to experience underlying growth (after adjusting for the large orders) and now expect full year revenue to be in the range of £420m – £440m and a profit before tax in the range of £67m – £83m.”
Last year the group benefited from large orders in Asia, thought to be from manufacturers used by Apple and Samsung.
Analysts said Renishaw’s trading update was not surprising as it continues to invest heavily in new products while its revenues are declining.
Michael Blogg, analyst at Investec, told the Financial Times: “This mismatch has been evident for the last year and we consider that the group’s record still underpins faith in management’s medium to long-term judgment.”
The group will issue a trading update in respect of its third quarter on May 11.
Last December it reported a 22.6% fall in revenue from China during the half year ended December.
