13 October 2018

Announcement of Half Year Results for the six months to 30 September 2018

Oxford Instruments plc, a leading provider of high technology products and systems for industry and research, today announces its Half Year Results for the six months to 30 September 2018.

  Year ended 30 September 2018 Year ended 30 September 2017 % change
  £m   £m  
Revenue1 147.0 132.1 +11.3%
Adjusted* operating profit1 21.0 18.8 +11.7%
Adjusted* profit before tax1 19.8 16.3 +21.5%
Profit before tax1 11.6 12.7  (8.7%)
Adjusted* basic earnings per share1 27.3p 22.3p +22.4%
Dividend per share (interim) 3.8p 3.7p +2.7%
       
Cash generated from operations1 21.4 3.7  
Net debt 12.5 19.7  

Financial Highlights:

  • Orders up 10.3% to £162.9m (2017: £147.7m), an increase of 12.0% at constant currency
  • Order book of £177.9m (31 March 2018: £153.0m, restated for IFRS 15) up 16.3% (12.5% at constant currency)
  • The Group has adopted IFRS 15 ‘Revenue from Contracts with Customers’ and IFRS 16 ‘Leases’. The impact is to increase revenue by £5.1m
  • Reported revenue increased by 11.3% to £147.0m (12.6% at constant currency)
  • Adjusted operating profit from continuing operations up 11.7% to £21.0m (16.0% at constant currency) with margin rising to 14.3%
  • Adjusted profit before tax from continuing operations up 21.5% to £19.8m
  • Reported profit before tax down 8.7% to £11.6m due to mark-to-market movement on currency derivatives
  • Strong cash conversion of 91.0% contributes to reduction in net debt to £12.5m
  • Interim dividend increased by 2.7% to 3.8p

 Operational Highlights:

  • Continued progress with the implementation of our Horizon strategy
  • Good underlying order and revenue growth
  • Continued focus on innovation and R&D
  • Further investment in sales, service and operational capabilities, with increased focus on strategic procurement, operational efficiencies and logistics
  • End markets and underlying drivers remain positive, with strong growth from commercial and industrial customers
  • Strong financial performance across Materials & Characterisation, driven by recently launched products, customer application focus and positive end markets
  • Good first half performance in Research & Discovery, driven by growth in Healthcare & Lifescience, and Quantum Technologies end markets
  • Good order and order book growth in Service & Healthcare, with growth in service contracts in OI Healthcare and increased demand for services related to our own products

Outlook:

  • Our expectations for the current financial year remain unchanged, supported by growth in constant currency orders and order book, along with our anticipated second half seasonal bias

 

Ian Barkshire, Chief Executive of Oxford Instruments plc, said: “We continue to make good progress with the implementation of our Horizon strategy whilst maintaining a focus on the near-term delivery of improved performance. The strategy is now well embedded across the Group and we are starting to see positive results with good underlying order and revenue growth.”

“Our commitment to provide leading product performance and commercial solutions in markets with long-term growth drivers, coupled with our increased investment in operating efficiencies, will continue to drive progress.”

  

Enquiries:

Oxford Instruments plc                                                          Tel:  01865 393200

Ian Barkshire, Chief Executive

Gavin Hill, Group Finance Director

MHP Communications                                                           Tel:  020 3128 8100

Rachel Hirst / Luke Briggs

 

*NOTE: Throughout this half year announcement we make reference to adjusted numbers. A full definition of adjusted numbers can be found in note 2.  Where we make reference to constant currency numbers these are prepared on a month by month basis using the translational and transactional exchange rates which prevailed in the previous year rather than the actual exchange rates which prevailed in the year. Transactional exchange rates include the effect of our hedging programme.