Smiths sees Q1 sales spark, announces £1bn share buyback

(Sharecast News) - Smiths Group reaffirmed its full-year outlook and unveiled a fresh £1bn share buyback on Wednesday, following a "strong" first quarter. Updating on trading, the blue chip engineer said organic revenue from continuing operations had grown 3.5% in the three months to 31 October.

The performance was in line with internal expectations, leaving it on course to meet forecasts for full-year organic revenue growth of between 4% and 6%.

Smiths, one of the last large industrial conglomerates left on the London market, is currently selling off non-core assets to refocus on its core industrial technologies business.

Last month, it agreed to sell its electrical connectors division, Smiths Interconnect, to US firm Molex Electronic Technologies Holdings in a £1.3bn deal.

Roland Carter, chief executive, said Smiths had enjoyed a "good start" to the year.

He continued: "We are re-shaping Smiths to ensure an exciting future as a premium-rated, focused industrial engineering company, and our relentless focus on high performance underpins our ambition to drive long-term growth and margin expansion.

"I am particularly delighted that we have secured such a great outcome for Smiths Interconnect. This demonstrates the value we have created and supports our commitment to delivering attractive shareholder returns.

"We have now returned £1.8bn to shareholders over the last four years, and reflecting the value we have secured for Smiths Interconnect, toady we announce the launch of a new buyback of £1bn."

The new buyback will commence once the current, £500m buyback completes in December.

As at 0820 GMT, the stock was up 1% at 2,468p.