Engineering firm sees profits fall by seven per cent

Engineering firm Spirax-Sarco saw profits fall by seven per cent in the first six months of the year as a result of the ongoing economic uncertainty.

The Cheltenham firm’s operating profit fell by seven per cent to £132m. During the same period revenues rose by 13 per cent to just under £851m.

Group chief executive Nicholas Anderson announced earlier this week he is to step down after 10 years running the business.

He said: “We achieved first half results that are broadly in line with our expectations, against the backdrop of continued destocking in the Biopharm and Semicon WFE sectors, as well as softening industrial production growth.

“I am grateful to all our colleagues for their continued support of our customers’ critical industrial processes against this challenging backdrop.

“The underlying demand for Watson-Marlow products and solutions remains as robust as in pre-pandemic periods, albeit the short-term headwind from Biopharm destocking is now expected to continue into 2024, with Watson-Marlow’s competitive strengths and market-leading capabilities to service that demand remaining unchanged.  Similarly, we remain confident in the underlying growth drivers of the Semicon WFE sector.

“We are confident in our group’s strength and our ability to navigate the current macroeconomic uncertainty and short-term headwinds, while continuing to drive strategic progress.

“Our robust business model, diverse reach across end-markets and geographies and clear opportunity to accelerate the decarbonisation of industrial processes underpin our confidence in the medium-term outlook.”

Spirax‐Sarco Engineering is a leading global thermal energy management and fluid technology solutions group.

The group is headquartered in Cheltenham, with 40 strategically located manufacturing plants around the world and employs more than 10,000 people, including more than 2,100 direct sales and service engineers.