AI infrastructure boom helps power Halma to record sales and profit
The AI infrastructure boom helped underpin another record year at Halma as the FTSE 100 safety and equipment maker delivered more than £2.5bn in annual revenue for the first time.
The 130-year-old group, which owns dozens of specialist businesses across safety, healthcare and environmental tech, posted record revenue and profit, extending a growth streak that has made it one of the London market’s most dependable performers.
Revenue climbed above £2.5bn while profit passed £500m for the first time, driven by growth across all three of its divisions.
The company also increased its annual dividend by seven per cent to 24.74p per share, marking its 47th consecutive year of dividend growth.
Chief executive Marc Ronchetti said the results reflected the strength of Halma’s diversified portfolio despite ongoing economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
“This has been another successful year for Halma,” he said. “We grew revenue to over £2.5bn and profit to over £500m, both for the first time. Our financial strength has enabled us to invest at record levels for future growth.”
Halma spent more than £600m during the year, including £447m on five acquisitions, while also increasing investment in research, development and manufacturing capacity.
Investors eye AI-linked growth
While Halma is best known for products ranging from fire detection systems to medical devices, investors are increasingly focused on its photonics business, which supplies optical technologies used in semiconductors, communications, healthcare and more notably, data centre infrastructure.
The company said it expects low double-digit underlying revenue growth in the year ahead, including a contribution from photonics.
Analysts at UBS said the outlook for the division would be a key focus following the results, particularly as spending on AI infrastructure continues to accelerate.
“While consensus for Environmental & Analysis has moved up since the trading update, we still view the risk-reward as positively skewed given the read-across from hyperscaler capex budgets,” the broker said.