Half-year figures from testing and certification group, Intertek, were buoyed by decent organic growth, as well as by last year's acquisition of technical inspection group, Moody International. But the hefty share price rating leaves that progress looking factored in.
Organic revenue growth actually rose from 8.3 per cent at the year-end, to 9.9 per cent and with Moody added in, group operating profit jumped 28.2 per cent year-on-year to £152.2m. In fact, the Moody acquisition, and strong demand from the oil, gas, food and agriculture sectors, helped sales at the industry & assurance division to more than double to £318.5m, with operating profit here having grown from £15.1m to £33.6m.
Robust demand from the mining sector boosted revenues at the commodities unit by 10.5 per cent to £278.2m. Management expects the division's minerals segment, responsible for around a fifth of the unit's business, to grow at over 20 per cent for the rest of the year. The consumer goods division, meanwhile, reported good sales growth - up 8.9 per cent to £163.9m - driven by such areas as the traditional testing segments of textiles and toys.
Broker JP Morgan expects full-year pre-tax profit of £290m, giving EPS of 120.2p (2011: £198m/77.4p).
INTERTEK (ITRK) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 2,863p | MARKET VALUE: | £4.6bn | |
| TOUCH: | 2,860-2,866p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 2,936p | LOW: 1,682p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.3% | PE RATIO: | 27 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 349p* | NET DEBT: | 105% | |
| Half-year to 30 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 763 | 85.3 | 33.2 | 10.7 |
| 2012 | 991 | 122 | 51.5 | 13.0 |
| % change | +30 | +43 | +55 | +21 |
Ex-div:31 Oct Payment:16 Nov *Includes intangible assets of £816m, or 507p per share | ||||
