StockMarketWire.com - Science tools marker Oxford Instruments reported a 55% rise in first-half profit, driven by higher sales and an increase in the value of currency derivatives.

Pre-tax profit for the six months through September jumped to £18.0m, up from £11.6m on-year.

Revenue rose 13% to £166.3m, or by 9.1% on a constant currency basis, and adjusted profit, which removed the derivative gains, rose 28% to £25.4m.

Oxford Instruments declared an interim dividend of 4.1p per share, up 7.9% on-year.

'The group has delivered a strong first half performance, with revenue, profit and order growth against a backdrop of uncertain macroeconomic conditions,' chief executive Ian Barkshire said.

'Our customer centric approach has delivered growth within existing markets and expansion into new adjacent markets.'

'The breadth of our product portfolio and the diversity of our end-markets, together with our focus on understanding customer needs and responding to market changes, underpin our ability to deliver further growth and margin improvement.'

'We expect the second half of the financial year to benefit from the normal seasonal bias, with expectations for the current financial year remaining unchanged on a constant currency basis.'





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