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Smiths Group PLC on Tuesday said it has overcome ongoing macro-economic uncertainties to deliver organic revenue growth ahead of its expectations. London-based Smiths Group is an engineering firm operating in the energy, security & defence, space & aerospace and general industrial sectors. Pretax profit grew 15% to £375 million for the financial year that ended July 31 from £327 million the year prior. Basic earnings per share jumped 19% to 85.7 pence from 72.3p. Operating profit increased 10% to £580 million from £526 million. Operating margin improved to 17.4% from 16.8%, meeting the top-end of guidance for margin expansion of 40 to 60 basis points. Group revenue rose 6.5% to £3.34 billion from £3.13 billion, or by 8.9% on an organic basis, exceeding guidance for organic growth of 6% to 8%. ‘We exceeded our twice-raised organic revenue growth guidance, delivering 8.9% growth, and operating margin was 17.4%, at the top of our guided range. This strong performance reflects the quality of our business and agility managing ongoing macro-economic uncertainties,’ commented Chief Executive Roland Carter. ‘Financial 2025 has been a pivotal year and the strategic actions we have announced to focus Smiths as a world-class industrial engineering company to unlock significant value and enhance returns to shareholders are well underway,’ he added. In response, shares in Smiths Group rose 4.2% to 2,476.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning. Smiths said it had beaten organic revenue growth guidance despite the uncertain macro environment, a challenging US construction market and interruption from the now resolved cyber security incident in January, with the most notable impact being in John Crane. The separation processes for Smiths Interconnect and Smiths Detection is progressing, and the firm continues to expect an announcement on Smiths Interconnect by end of 2025. In January, the company announced plans to sell its electronic connectors business by the end of 2025 and separate is threat detection arm, either by UK demerger or sale. This will leave the group focused on the John Crane and Flex-Tek businesses. Smiths Group said its ’Acceleration Plan’ is on track with an expected run-rate of £40 million to £45 million of benefits for financial 2027 onwards. Looking ahead, Smiths expects organic revenue growth between 4% and 6% during financial 2026, as well as continuing margin expansion. The group remains confident in delivering its medium-term targets. ‘Our order book and momentum in the business support our confidence in our positive outlook for financial 2026,’ CEO Carter added. The firm declared a total dividend of 46.0p per share, 5.1% higher on-year against 43.75p. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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