JDG Judges Scientific Plc

Judges Scientific Plc

("Judges Scientific", "the Company" or "the Group")

Half Year Trading Update and Notice of Interim Results

Judges Scientific (AIM: JDG), the group focused on acquiring and developing companies in the scientific instrument sector, provides the following update regarding the Group's trading performance for the six-month period ended 30 June 2024.

Trading in the first half of the financial year, as indicated in the AGM update,  has been subdued against a backdrop of difficult market conditions and versus record prior year comparatives. The challenging environment has caused mixed trading across our Group.

We have continued to execute our strategy, completing two small acquisitions during the half: PE Fiberoptics acquired Luciol Instruments SA and Geotek acquired Rockwash Geodata Limited.

References to "Organic" information in this update exclude any contribution from Henniker Scientific Limited, Bossa Nova Vision LLC and the two more recent acquisitions. Geotek is now included in the Organic results.  

Order intake 

Across the Group, Organic order intake was down 4% when compared against the strong H1 2023, which was up 14% against H1 2022.

The challenging and variable environment can be seen in Organic orders, with great contrasts between our major trading regions, the most notable variations being China/Hong Kong, down 65%, and North America also down 9%, contrasted by a 34% increase in the Rest of the World and 2% improvement in Europe.

Order book

The Organic order book was maintained at 17.2 weeks from its year end position (31 December 2023: 17.0 weeks; 30 June 2023: 22.4 weeks).

Revenue

Organic revenue in the first half was down 3% compared with H1 2023, with the region most affected being China/Hong Kong where revenues reduced by 9%. The 3% drop in Organic revenue illustrated the effect of generally subdued order intake, a few instances of a sharp reduction in demand and a small number of significant projects being delayed to H2 or 2025.

Geotek's performance was lower than H1 2023, which had included some residual income from its 2022 coring expedition. The extension of existing and entry into new digitalisation contracts occurred  too late to impact the H1 results meaningfully.

First Half Performance

The decrease in Organic revenues in the first half is expected to result in earnings per share declining by a fifth for the period. Our cash conversion rate remained below the levels traditional for Judges and must remain a key area of focus.

Outlook

The Board expects the second half to show progress with the realisation of some delayed projects and Geotek will benefit from the increased activity of its digitalisation business. As highlighted at the time of our AGM update in May, the next Geotek contract is in negotiation, and specifies an expedition starting at the very end of 2024, implying no recognisable revenue in the current financial year.

Despite the expectation of an improved second half, the Board no longer expects the Group's performance to recover sufficiently to enable us to deliver a year-end performance in line with current market expectations*.  As a result, the Board now anticipates earnings per share to be between 5 and 10% below the consensus*.

The Group still maintains a healthy order book, and a solid financial position, which gives the Board confidence that the subdued performance of the first half doesn't hamper the Group's continuing strategy.

* Current consensus market expectations for the year ended 31 December 2024 are Adjusted basic earnings per share of 384.6p.

Notice of Results

The Company intends to announce its interim results for the six months to 30 June 2024 on Thursday 19 September 2024.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) 596/2014 as it forms part of UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 ("MAR"), and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of MAR.

For further information please contact:

Notes to editors:

Judges Scientific plc (AIM: JDG), is a group focused on acquiring and developing companies in the scientific instrument sector.  The Group now consists of 24 businesses acquired since 2005.

The acquired companies are primarily UK-based with products sold worldwide to a diverse range of markets including: higher education institutions, scientific research facilities, manufacturers and regulatory authorities.  The UK is a recognised centre of excellence for scientific instruments.  The Group has received five Queen's Awards for innovation and export.

The Group's companies predominantly operate in global niche markets, with long term growth fundamentals and resilient margins.

Judges Scientific maintains a policy of selectively acquiring businesses that generate sustainable profits and cash.  Shareholder returns are created through the reduction of debt, organic growth and dividends.

For further information, please visit www.judges.uk.com