20
January 2025
Judges Scientific
plc
(the
"Group" or "Judges")
Full Year Trading Statement
and Notice of Final Results
The Board of Judges Scientific
plc, a group focused on acquiring and developing companies in
the scientific instrument sector, provides the following update on
the Group's trading performance for the financial year
ended 31 December 2024.
As previously announced, 2024 was a
difficult year for the Group. The challenging trading environment
resulted in mixed trading across our Group and, as the year
developed, the prospect of a 2024 Geotek coring expedition
evaporated, resulting in no recognisable
revenue in the year. Other headwinds affected our businesses to
varying degrees, including a large reduction in orders from China,
together with a general weakness in order intake and some customers
delaying orders and deliveries.
Organic order intake, including a
Geotek coring contract, was up 7% versus 2023. Excluding this
order, the Organic order intake finished up 2.2% versus 2023. The
Organic order book at the year-end had grown to 18.7 weeks of sales
(16.7 weeks at the end of 2023) but, without coring, this would
have been 16.9 weeks.
Organic revenues were down 5.8% from
2023, and down 0.7% excluding coring. The operational leverage in
the business means that the small decline in organic revenue has a
large impact on profitability.
Cash conversion is an essential
element of our business model and restoring it to the pre-Covid
levels has been a priority - pleasingly, cash conversion for the
full year will show a return to historical levels.
The current year is starting more
encouragingly, with Geotek's coring expedition having commenced and
a number of the deferred projects from 2024 are now anticipated to
contribute to H1 earnings. The Board remains confident in the
long-term growth drivers of the business and expects Adjusted
earnings per share for 2024 to be in line with current market
expectations1 as updated in November 2024.
Notice of Final Results
The Company intends to announce its
full year results for the year ended 31 December 2024 on 19 March
2025.
1Current consensus market expectations for the
year ended 31 December 2024 are Adjusted basic earnings
per share of 276.8p.
For further information please
contact:
|
Judges Scientific plc
David Cicurel, CEO
Brad Ormsby, CFO
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3829
6970
|
Shore Capital (Nominated Adviser & Joint
Broker)
Stephane Auton
Harry Davies-Ball
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7408 4090
|
|
|
Panmure Liberum (Joint Broker)
Edward Mansfield
Nikhil Varghese
Joshua Borlant
Tel : +44 (0) 20 3100
2222
|
Investec Bank plc (Joint Broker)
Virginia Bull
Carlton Nelson
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7597 4000
|
|
|
Alma (Financial Public Relations)
Sam Modlin
Joe Pederzolli
Rebecca Sanders-Hewett
Sarah Peters
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3405 0205
judges@almastrategic.com
|
|
|
Notes to editors:
Judges Scientific plc (AIM:
JDG), is a group focused on acquiring and developing companies in
the scientific instrument sector. The Group consists of 25
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
