British engineer Smiths Group praises record sales driven by demand for new inventions
- Smiths Group revenue rises 18.3% to £3.04bn in just 12 months
- The company said demand for innovative new products helped boost its sales.
- Last year it invested more than £100m in research and development.
Smiths Group hailed record results driven by demand for new inventions including next-generation airport scanners and green energy products.
The London-listed engineer said yesterday that revenue rose 18.3% to £3.04bn in the 12 months to the end of July, its biggest haul ever recorded.
Smiths, which was founded as a watch store in London in 1851, said demand for innovative new products helped boost its sales, with organic revenue growth reaching a record 11.7%.
The FTSE 100 company invested more than £100m in research and development last year, focusing on artificial intelligence and green energy innovations.
It said product launches contributed more than three percentage points of growth in the most recent financial year, helping to ease the impact of a slowdown in the semiconductor industry.
Smiths Group invested more than £100 million in research and development last year, focusing on artificial intelligence and green energy innovations.
Smiths boss Paul Keel (pictured) said about a third of the company’s revenue could be attributed to products that did not exist five years ago.
Among Smiths’ recent inventions is technology that eliminates the need for travelers to remove liquids and laptops from their bags when passing through airport security.
London City Airport was one of the first in the country to scrap the 100ml liquid rule after installing one of the high-tech 3D scanners.
Most UK airports will have followed suit by mid-2024 in a bid to speed up boarding times.
Smiths has also developed ultra-high pressure hydrogen gas seals, which will allow it to capitalize on the shift towards hydrogen products as companies transition to green energy to achieve net zero.
Chief Paul Keel said about a third of the company’s revenue could be attributed to products that didn’t exist five years ago.
Decarbonisation is another “megatrend” helping to drive growth, and Smiths’ strategy was not affected by the Government’s announcement last week that it will delay some climate policies.
“All companies have now made a net zero commitment,” Keel said, stating that the steel industry is a particular growth area for Smiths Group.
“What companies do when they make that commitment is look at where they burn fossil fuels and how they can replace them with electric heating.”
Annual after-tax profit fell 77.6% to £232m as the previous year’s results included profits from the sale of its medical business. But operating profit soared 244.4% to £403m.
