Cheltenham-headquartered engineering firm Spirax Group has reported a fall in profits for the financial year. The FTSE-100 company posted a 1% fall in reported revenue to £1.6bn for the 12 months to December 31, 2024. Adjusted profit before tax fell to £288.2m from £309.2m the year previously.
The company said global industrial production growth for the full year was lower than had been forecast and second half recovery did not materialise with industrial production falling in key markets such as the US, Germany, France, Italy and the 海角视频, representing around 50% of group sales.
However, Sprirax added that all three of its business divisions delivered organic sales growth during the year with adjusted operating profit margins in line with expectations.
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According to the group, its restructuring strategy will realise annual savings of around £35m to fund investment in future organic growth. The cash costs to deliver the programme will be mostly incurred in 2025, Spirax said, and are expected to be around £35m, with an additional non-cash cost of £5m.
The board declared a final dividend of 117.5p per ordinary share - up from 114p in 2023 - bringing the total dividend for the year to 165p.
“The global macroeconomic environment remains highly uncertain,” the company said in a statement on Tuesday (March 11). “We remain cautious on industrial production in 2025 and have adopted more conservative assumptions in our planning.
“We expect trading conditions in China to remain challenging as customers continue to reduce investments in the expansion of manufacturing capacity.”
Looking to 2025, Spirax said it expected organic growth in group revenues consistent with that achieved in 2024 and “modestly higher” growth in the second half. It added that corporate costs for the year would be around £40m, reflecting higher levels of investment in growth.
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Nimesh Patel, group chief executive, said: "All three of our businesses delivered organic sales growth with margins in line with our expectations, despite weaker than expected industrial production in the second half. I am particularly pleased with progress in electric thermal solutions, where improvements to manufacturing throughput supported higher sales and improved margin."
Mr Patel said the company was “well underway” with actions to simplify the organisation and better leverage resources to support future growth.
He added: "Mindful of the outlook for industrial production, I remain confident in the execution of our strategy and in the strength of our business model.”
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