Intertek Group H1 revenues increase 9.5%

Highlights

- Revenue growth of 9.5%; constant currency organic growth of 6.3%
- All divisions contributing to revenue growth
- Operating profit¹ growth of 4.0% to £158m, adjusted operating margin¹ of 14.6%
- Margin reflects challenging markets in minerals and Europe; restructuring programme continuing
- Diluted EPS1 increase of 6.4%; interim dividend increase of 15.4%
- First half organic investment of £61m; £9m on four bolt-on acquisitions

Wolfhart Hauser, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Intertek delivered good revenue growth in the first half against a very strong performance last year. We saw challenging market conditions in our minerals business and across Europe, but produced robust growth in a number of other areas, most notably in China, India and the Middle East.

The Industry & Assurance division continued to grow revenue strongly, benefitting from the strength of our focus in the energy market. The Consumer Goods and Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals divisions continued to grow well as our global footprint and service expansion supported the market developments.

The Commercial & Electrical division grew moderately and the Commodities division grew low single digits as a result of the sharper than anticipated decline in the minerals testing business and very strong comparatives in our Government Trade Services business.

The margin for the Group was lower in the period, mainly as a result of the decline in the minerals business, weak European market conditions and investment in new businesses. In response, our previously announced restructuring programme is progressing, to align the business with current and anticipated market conditions. Whilst we now expect minerals to remain challenging for some time, the impact on the margin will reduce as we benefit from a lower cost base.

Looking ahead, revenue growth for the Group is expected to improve in the second half from the level reported in the first half. The second half margin is anticipated to be in-line with the corresponding period last year, with year on year underlying margin progression to resume from 2014.

"Intertek’s structural growth drivers and globally diversified services provide a strong foundation for long term value creation. We continue to diversify our quality and safety services and are working to further develop in Asia, the Middle East, South America and India where we have potential for very strong growth.”

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