Synergy Health reports 7.5% rise in annual turnover, outlook confident

Synergy Health posted a 7.5% jump in full-year revenue despite adverse currency translation effects and said it was well placed to sustain its growth over both the medium and long-term.

The group, which provides specialist outsourced support services to health-related markets, reported a 1.6% rise in pre-tax profit from £42.9m to £43.6m on revenue of £408.8m, up from £380.5m. On an underlying basis, revenue climbed 10.8%, driving underlying operating profit 9.4% higher.

Chief executive Richard Steeves said: "We have made good progress this year on our objectives. In the near term we will continue to focus on investing to deliver our strategy. I am personally very excited about the opportunities at hand, and look forward to seeing the continued growth of this business."

Net debt increased from £147.6m to £161.1m, largely due to the acquisition of Bioster S.p.A..

The group opted to not pay a final dividend following its planned combination with Steris, although this continues to face opposition from the US Federal Trade Commission. Synergy reiterated its intention to contest the commission's decision to block the deal.

The order book was maintained at £1.6bn, with contract wins and renewals in the healthcare services business partially offset by price erosion on linen management contracts in the HCS business, which saw its sales drop 1.5%.

Its return on average capital employed increased to 12.4% from 12.0% a year ago.

"The business has a number of opportunities for earnings-enhancing investment, and the board is confident that these will deliver strong growth in shareholder value over the coming years," the company said.