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Spectris PLC on Wednesday backed annual guidance and set out new growth targets.
The Egham, Surrey-based supplier of precision instrumentation and controls said like-for-like sales in the third quarter of 2022 rose 10% annually. Reported sales in the period amounted to £332.6 million, up from £324.7 million a year ago.
Like-for-like orders were 0.5% higher, with the expected slowdown in growth, given the strong year-on-year comparator. For the nine months to September 30, LFL sales increased 10% and LFL orders were 13% higher.
"We continue to see strong demand for our products and services, underpinning our expectation for high single digit organic sales growth for the full year. Orders remain ahead of revenue, even when compared to our strong performance in the third quarter last year, supported by our continued focus on research & development investment and new product introductions," Chief Executive Andrew Heath said.
The firm continues to expect "high single digit" growth in like-for-like sales this year.
It added that outlook for full-year adjusted operating profit remains in line with current market expectations.
Looking further out, Spectris outlined new medium-term goals. It will target organic sales growth of 6% to 7% in the medium-term, with an adjusted operating margin above 20%.
In 2021, sales amounted to £1.16 billion. Its adjusted operating margin was 16.3%. Spectris is hosting a capital markets day on Wednesday.
Additionally, Spectris said it has completed £175 million of its £300 million share buyback programme.
For the first half of 2022, the company reported a pretax profit of £41.8 million, down 77% versus £181.9 million a year before, but it generated sales of £570.2 million, 6.1% higher year-on-year compared to £537.5 million.
Full-year results will be published on February 23 next year.
Shares were up 0.1% at 2,891.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
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