Key financials **
§ Revenues increased 9% to a record £40.2 million (H1 2018: £37.0 million);
§ Adjusted*pre-tax profit increased 27% to £8.4 million (H1 2018: £6.6 million);
– Statutory pre-tax profit increased to £6.9 million (H1 2018: £4.2 million);
§ Adjusted* basic earnings per share increased 30% to 108.7p (H1 2018: 83.4p);
– Statutory basic earnings per share increased to 90.1p (H1 2018: 53.3p);
§ Interim dividend of 15.0p (H1 2018: 12.0p), an increase of 25%; covered 7 times by adjusted earnings;
§ Order intake increased 4% compared with H1 2018;
§ Order book at 13.2 weeks (H1 2018: 15.0 weeks);
§ Cash generated from operations increased to £8.5 million (H1 2018: £6.3 million);
§ Adjusted* net cash increased to £7.4 million as at 30 June 2019 (31 December 2018: £0.9 million);
– Statutory net cash increased to £7.2 million as at 30 June 2019 (31 December 2018: £0.7 million);
§ Cash balances increased to £20.8 million as at 30 June 2019 (31 December 2018: £15.7 million).
Outlook
§ Adjusted profit before tax and earnings per share anticipated to be ahead of FY 2019 expectations***.
* Adjusted earnings figures are stated before adjusting items relating to hedging of risks materialising after the end of the period, amortisation of acquired intangible assets, share based payments and acquisition-related costs. Adjusted net cash notionally includes acquisition-related payments which had yet to be settled at the balance sheet date and excludes subordinated debt owed by subsidiaries to non-controlling shareholders.
** In the absence of any material acquisition since 1 January 2018, this statement shows no distinction between total and organic performance.
*** Judges Scientific’s compiled analyst forecast range for adjusted profit before tax (year to 31 December 2019): £14.8m to £15.1m, with an average consensus of £15.0m. The forecast range for Adjusted earnings per share: 184.7p to 190.5p, with an average consensus of 188.4p.
Alex Hambro, Chairman of Judges Scientific, commented:
“The delivery of record revenue, adjusted profit before tax, earnings per share, cash generation and dividends for the first half is testament to the Group’s pursuit of operational excellence. Orders to date are in line with our expectations, despite a subdued second quarter. The strong first half financial performance and healthy order book give the Board confidence that full year adjusted profit before tax and EPS will exceed current consensus market expectations.”
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