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Investing.com -- Halma shares surged on Thursday after the company posted record first-half results and raised its full-year guidance.
The stock was up 10.1% in London trading by 08:31 GMT.
British health and safety device maker’s revenue for the six months to 30 September 2025 rose 15.2% to £1.24 billion, with organic constant-currency growth of 16.7%, including a strong premium contribution from photonics.
Adjusted EBIT jumped 26.7% to £282.0 million, lifting the adjusted EBIT margin by 210 basis points to 22.8%.
Adjusted profit before tax increased 29.3% to £270.5 million, while adjusted EPS grew 28.6% to 55.32 pence.
Statutory profit before tax climbed 39.0% to £241.8 million and statutory EPS rose 37.0% to 49.44 pence.
"We delivered record revenue and profit, a very strong Adjusted EBIT margin and returns well above our cost of capital, while making further substantial investments to support our growth over the longer term," said Halma CEO Marc Ronchetti.
"The strength and breadth of our first half performance and our current expectations for the remainder of the year support a further upgrade to our guidance."
All three sectors delivered revenue and adjusted profit growth, with margins up in each. Return on total invested capital improved by 190 basis points to 16.2%. Cash conversion eased to 79% from 108%, but Halma still expects full-year conversion to be closer to its 90% KPI.
R&D spending increased to £59.1 million, or 4.8% of revenue, and the group deployed £129 million on two acquisitions, leaving net debt/EBITDA at 1.03 times.
Looking ahead, Halma now forecasts mid-teens percentage organic constant-currency revenue growth for the full year, supported by continued premium growth in photonics, and an adjusted EBIT margin of around 22% excluding a one-off profit.
Stifel analyst Mark Davies Jones said the results showed "another impressive performance with momentum continuing into the second half (2H) and into 1H next fiscal year."
"What is impressive is that group performance is not just about exceptional growth in Avo Photonics (where sales appear to be up around 55% YoY) - there is strong growth across the portfolio, and an upside margin surprise at Safety (27% margin)," he noted.