Halma Seeks Acquisitions As Fiscal Year Profit Rises 12%

22nd Jun 2010 07:21

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Health and safety electronics company Halma PLC (HLMA.LN) Tuesday reported a 12% rise in fiscal-year profit, aided by layoffs and other cost savings, and said it is hunting for acquisitions. Halma, which makes products including smoke detectors, safety sensors for lift doors and sensors for detecting leaks in pipelines, added it expects growth to be driven by trends like ever-tougher industrial safety rules and widening access to healthcare. Halma increased its full-year dividend 7.2% to 8.5 pence a share. Halma said pretax profit for the 53 weeks to April 3 was GBP81.4 million, compared to a profit of GBP72.8 million for the 52 weeks to March 28, 2009. Revenue edged up to GBP459.1 million from GBP455.9 million. Growth in sales in Europe, China and the U.S. was offset by a decline in sales in the U.K. and some other countries. Earnings were aided by higher amortization charges a year earlier and an improvement in margins following layoffs and other savings. Excluding amortization, pretax profit increased 9% to GBP86.2 million. -By Jason Douglas, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9272; [email protected] (END) Dow Jones Newswires June 22, 2010 02:21 ET (06:21 GMT)