Full year numbers from engineering firm Smiths Group saw sentiment in the stock rattled on Tuesday morning. That was despite a reasonable set of numbers with organic revenue growth of 5.4% against forecasts of 4%-6% along with continued margin improvement too. There was a minor miss in terms of profitability but it could well be the acquisition news that is taking a toll after the business also announced this morning that it had bought up two US-based industrials for a consideration of up to £110m. There’s little further detail here but the Smiths share price is down 7% in early trade.
The manufacturer of micro computers which IPO’d back in the summer, issued interim results this morning. Revenues were up 61% ad although some modest margin erosion meant gross profits tailed slightly, up 47%, profitability in the first half has landed ahead of internal expectations. Higher customer and channel inventory levels are also bolstering the outlook but management caution they expect this to normalise. The full year outlook is unchanged and the Raspberry Pi share price is up more than 5% an hour into the day.
Interims from the gift and greeting card retailer Card Factory were published this morning and despite revenues ticking higher, the market is rather more focused on the sharp increase in costs. Changes to minimum wages along with rising shipping costs have both taken a notable toll on the company’s performance, with pre-tax profits falling by well over 40%. Despite the offer of an interim dividend, investors have given the news a cool reception with the Card Factory share price down more than 15% just after 9am.
Headlines we expect on Wednesday
On The Beach Trading statement
This time last year TTV £1.1bn
Everyman Media Group Interim Results
This time last year Revenue £38.3m, Gross profit margin 65.6%
