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IMI PLC on Friday raised its interim dividend by 10%, declared a new share buyback, and confirmed its annual guidance, despite a mostly flat performance in the first half of the year. Shares in the Birmingham, England-based engineering firm were up 1.7% to 2,260.00 pence early Friday in London. They were the third biggest riser in the FTSE 100 index, itself down 0.7% amid concern about US trade tariffs. IMI said pretax profit was £163.0 million in six months that ended June 30, marginally up from £162.5 million a year before, as revenue slipped 0.6% to £1.09 billion from £1.10 billion. On an adjusted basis, pretax profit was £189.5 million, up from £187.4 million. Operating profit was down 10% to £158 million from £177 million, but up 1.0% to £198 million from £196 million on an adjusted basis. IMI said revenue was lower in the recent half-year due to currency movements. It was up 2% on an adjusted, organic basis. On the same basis, operating profit was up 5%. Looking ahead, IMI confirmed its 2025 guidance for mid-single-digit percentage organic revenue growth and adjusted basic earnings per share of between 129p and 136p. Adjusted EPS was 56.1p in the first half of the year, up 2.6% from 54.7p a year before. It was 122.5p in all of 2024, so IMI is guiding for at least 5.3% growth in 2025, which would match the growth recorded in 2024. IMI declared a 11.0 pence interim dividend, up 10% from 10.0p a year before. It also announced a new £200 million share buyback. Chief Executive Roy Twite said the returns were made possible by IMI’s strong cash flow, saying the company expects to generate more than £1 billion in free cash flow over the next three years. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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