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Renishaw PLC on Tuesday remained cautious of its prospects for the year ahead, after posting a decline in earnings over the financial year. For the 12 months ended June 30, the Gloucestershire, England-based provider of manufacturing technologies, analytical instruments and medical devices reported pretax profit of £141.0 million, down 16% from £163.7 million a year prior. According to Renishaw, the decline came alongside a reduction in gross margin before engineering costs, and was also hampered by employee pay inflation and a reduction in production volumes. Revenue was £688.6 million, up 2.6% from £671.1 million the previous year. Despite only seeing a marginal sales increase, Renishaw praised growth in ‘challenging trading conditions’, noting that it had seen good returns from system sales, offset by weaker demand from the semiconductor sector. Adjusted earnings per share were 155.1p, down 16% from 185.5p year-on-year. Nevertheless, Renishaw upped its payout. The firm proposed a final dividend of 59.4p, up from 56.6p year-on-year. This brought its annual dividend to 76.2p, up from 72.6p a year prior. Looking ahead, Renishaw remained cautious of market conditions, and said it is currently recruiting ‘for critical roles only’. Where possible, the firm is also implementing further price rises to mitigate ongoing inflation. ‘We have seen a steady start to FY2024 and our order book remains solid. We continue to see positive trends for investment in low emission transportation, defence, additive manufacturing and robotics,’ said Chief Executive William Lee. Lee added: ‘Meanwhile, demand from semiconductor equipment suppliers for position encoders remains subdued. While the short-term macroeconomic picture remains unclear, we continue to manage costs prudently, we are implementing further price rises, and remain focused on improving our productivity.’ Renishaw shares were trading 0.9% lower at 3,650.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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