Record half-year sales and a much improved outlook triggered a rush back into Renishaw. The shares, which lost over half their value in just a few months last year, shot up 20 per cent at one stage to their highest in almost five months. Investment in production systems within automotive, civil aviation, agriculture and energy markets "looks increasingly favourable", said management at the precision engineer, and recovery in the key electronics sector is on the cards.
That's just what investors wanted to hear, guaranteeing that they overlooked a jump in headcount and infrastructure spend that trimmed operating profit 14 per cent to £29.7m. It also helped soothe news that the Far East sales fell 9 per cent to £49.6m as Chinese sales - its largest market last year - slumped 25 per cent, largely reflecting weak demand for encoders from one electronics firm there, first flagged in October. It has since told assistant chief executive Ben Taylor that it's "just a pause"; likely to last at least three months.