Revenue neared £1.5bn at Spectris, the supplier of precision instrumentation and controls, during 2023 with its chief executive hailing the company’s “excellent progress”.
The London-headquartered company has reported a revenue of £1.449bn for the 12 months, up from £1.327bn.
Its pre-tax profits also rose during the year from £151.5m to £185.6m.
In a new filing with the London Stock Exchange, Spectris said it completed four acquisitions and investments in 2023 for a total consideration of £60m, divested Red Lion Controls and completed a £300m share buyback.
Chief executive Andrew Heath said: “We made further, excellent progress in 2023, delivering another year of double-digit sales growth, record profit and an operating margin in excess of 18%. But we are far from done.
“The combination of the improved quality of the group, our strong self-help story and the significant opportunities that lie ahead gives me great confidence in our future prospects, with the delivery of further margin expansion in 2024 providing another step towards margins in excess of 20 per cent.”
On its outlook, Spectris added: “The group’s resilience, leading product portfolio and broad end market exposure, combined with a strong self-help story, provides confidence in the group’s ability to navigate an uncertain macroeconomic environment this year.
“We expect to deliver another year of further progress in 2024, including margin expansion, after taking into account the impact of the Red Lion disposal.
“Progress is expected to be weighted towards the second half reflecting the strong performance of the group in the first half of 2023 and an improving outlook in a number of key end markets.”