TOP NEWS: Upbeat Intertek ups dividend 43% as half-year profit climbs

Intertek Group PLC on Friday said it was on track to hit medium-term targets after improving margins boosted first-half performance.

The London-based consumer product testing and certification agency said revenue in the first half of 2024 grew 1.8% on-year to £1.67 billion, from £1.64 billion. Like-for-like revenue rose 1.3%.

Pretax profit climbed 7.6% to £206.2 million from £191.7 million a year prior. Adjusted operating profit climbed 8.0% to £265.1 million from £245.4 million. Operating margin rose to 15.9% from 15.0%.

Diluted earnings per share increased by 10% to 104.9 pence from 95.2p.

The dividend was boosted by 43% to 53.9p from 37.7p. The bumper increase reflected a new dividend policy of 65% payout ratio of earnings from 2024.

Intertek reported broad-based like-for-like revenue growth of 6.1%. Consumer Products grew 6.0%, Corporate Assurance by 8.3%, Health and Safety by 8.5%, Industry and Infrastructure by 2.2%, and World of Energy by 8.3%.

Cost savings of £5 million were disclosed in the first half with £11 million expected in 2024 as a whole.

Intertek expects a strong second half, stating it is on track to deliver medium-term targets of mid-single digit LFL revenue growth and more than 17.5% margin.

‘We enter the second half of the year with confidence, given the day-adjusted like-for-like growth rate acceleration in the May/June period and we expect the group will deliver a strong performance in 2024 with mid-single digit LFL revenue growth at constant currency, margin progression and a strong cash flow performance,’ Chief Executive Officer Andre Lacroix said.

It expects mid-single-digit like-for-like constant currency revenue growth from the Consumer Products division, in line with an outlook given in May.

Shares in Intertek rose 1.5% to 5,030.00 pence in London on Friday morning. The wider FTSE 100 was down 0.5%.

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