Orders rise more than six per cent at Oxford Instruments

Published by

Nicky Godding

Oxford Instruments plc, a leading provider of high technology products and systems for industry and research, has announced its Half Year Results for the six months to 30 September 2019.

Orders are up 6.4 per cent to £173.3 million, an increase of 2.8% at constant currency and the company's order book is £186.8 million, up 8.9% per cent (+6.0% at constant currency).

Operation highlights include new growth opportunities from academic and commercial customers, which more than offset softening in silicon semiconductor, electronics and automotive production markets. A strong performed for its Materials and Characterisation work, underpinned by increased sales across Semiconductor & Communications, Advanced Materials and Energy & Environment segments and a growth across healthcare & lifescience, quantum technology and fundamental research segments

Ian Barkshire, Chief Executive of Oxford Instruments plc, said: "The Group has delivered a strong first-half performance, with revenue, profit and order growth against a backdrop of uncertain macroeconomic conditions. 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."

Nicky Godding

Nicky Godding is editor of The Business Magazine. Before her journalism career, she worked mainly in public relations moving into writing when she was invited to launch Retail Watch, a publication covering retail and real estate across Europe. After some years of constant travelling, she tucked away her passport and concentrated on business writing, co-founding a successful regional business magazine. She has interviewed some of the UK’s most successful entrepreneurs who have built multi-million-pound businesses and reported on many science and technology firsts. She reports on the region’s thriving business economy from start-ups, family businesses and multi-million-pound corporations, to the professionals that support their growth and the institutions that educate the next generation of business leaders.