Renishaw Q1 revenue up but profit down; to shut diagnostics unit

High-precision metrology and healthcare manufacturer Renishaw reported a jump in first-quarter revenue but a drop in profit, as it announced plans to discontinue operations at its diagnostics unit

In a trading update for the three months ended 30 September, the company said revenue was £112.8m, up from £98.2m in the same period a year ago, with growth in all regions, particularly the Far East and Europe.

Pre-tax profit in the first quarter came in at £14.1m – including a currency benefit of £3.7m – compared to £16.3m last year.

Revenue in the metrology business rose 16% to £108.8m, with underlying growth at constant exchange rates of 7%. Revenue in the healthcare business increased to £4m from £4.5m last year.

Also on Thursday, the company said that following an extensive review of the business, it has decided to discontinue operations at its diagnostics unit RDL, resulting in 33 redundancies.

The group said that while significant efforts have been made to find a collaboration or acquisition partner, there have been no acceptable offers to date that could take RDL forward as a going concern.

Renishaw said it continues to look at opportunities for the sale of RDL assets.

Chairman and chief executive David McMurtry said: “The board remains confident in the future prospects of the group and, as stated in my statement in July 2016, we continue to anticipate growth in both revenue and profit in this financial year.”

At 1135 BST, Renishaw shares were down 0.4% to 2,885p.