|
RS Group PLC on Thursday said like-for-like sales returned to growth in the second quarter of the financial year despite ‘continued uncertainty’ in most markets. The London-based distributor of industrial and electronic products and service solutions said pretax profit rose 7.2% to £112.2 million in the financial half year to September from £104.7 million the year prior, although revenue eased 2.8% to £1.40 billion from £1.44 billion. Basic earnings per share increased 7.9% to 17.7 pence from 16.4p, and RS raised the interim dividend by 2.6% to 8.7p per share from 8.5p a year ago. Like-for-like sales were broadly flat, with growth in Americas and Asia Pacific offsetting a small decline in Europe, Middle East & Africa, and the group as a whole moved into marginal growth in the second quarter. In response, shares in RS rose 6.5% to 588.50p each in London on Thursday. Chief Executive Simon Pryce called it a ‘solid’ performance given ‘continued uncertainty’ in most markets. He also said the first half benefited from ‘ongoing restructuring efforts, and improved agility on both pricing and cost management.’ RS left its full-year outlook unchanged and believes ‘a more stable macro-economic environment and structural industry trends will return our end-markets to growth over time.’ ‘This underpins our confidence in delivering our medium-term financial targets of growing revenue at twice the market, mid-teen adjusted operating margins, over 80% cash conversion and over 20% return on capital employed’, the firm added. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
|
