Halma beefs up FY pre-tax profit

21st Jun 2011 07:20

Engineering conglomerate Halma reported a robust set of full year figures and said it will continue to focus on potential acquisitions.The acquisitive engineer said pre-tax profit from continuing operations rose to £104.6m in the year ended 2 April 2011 from £86.2m in 2010. Revenue for the period rose to £518.4m from £459.1m previously.Chief executive Andrew Williams commented, "We made substantial investments in acquiring businesses and developing new products and markets. This will remain a strategic focus for the year ahead to ensure we continue to position the group's activities into markets offering growth and high returns."We are looking forward to making further good progress in the year ahead."The group, which bought seven businesses during the year costing around £82m, said net debt increased to £37m from £9m. A dividend of 9.1p has been recommended, up by 7%.CJ