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Pharmaceutical company Halma warned it expected lower profit for the fiscal 2021 and said it expected performance would be more weighted toward the second half of year owing to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The timing and profile of recovery remained uncertain, the company said, estimating that adjusted pre-tax profit for fiscal 2021 would be 5%-to-10% below 2020, and more weighted to the second half than in previous years.
The increased second half weighting was attributed to the costs of its employee support programmes in the second quarter, the company said.
The downbeat guidance came as the company reported higher profit for fiscal 2020.
For the 12 months to 31 March 2020, adjusted pre-tax profit increased 9% to £267m on-year as revenue rose 11% to £1.3bn.
The total dividend for the year was up 5%.