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Investing.com -- Smiths Group Plc (LON:SMIN) on Wednesday paired steady first-quarter growth with a new £1 billion share buyback program, set to begin after the engineering company completes its ongoing £500 million repurchase.
The program, which the company said is “targeted to be substantially completed by the end of calendar year 2026,” follows the previously announced sale of Smiths Interconnect to Molex Electronics Solutions and reflects the return of what the company described as “a large portion of disposal proceeds.”
The London-listed industrial engineering company reported 3.5% organic revenue growth for continuing operations in the three months ending Oct. 31.
Smiths maintained its full-year guidance for 4% to 6% organic revenue growth for fiscal 2026, citing support from its existing order book.
The company noted the quarter came against an “outstanding growth comparator” from the prior year.
Smiths said it has returned £1.8 billion to shareholders over the last four years. Within the current £500 million buyback, £41 million was completed in fiscal 2024, £308 million in fiscal 2025, and £115 million has been carried out to date in the current fiscal year.
Performance across its divisions varied. John Crane, a provider of rotating equipment solutions, reported what Smiths called a “marginal organic revenue decline against high single-digit growth” from the same period a year earlier.
The company said the division’s outlook is supported by its order book, while noting “some market-driven project timing uncertainties.”
Flex-Tek, which supplies components to the construction, aerospace and industrial sectors, posted flat organic revenue for the quarter. Smiths attributed the result to anticipated construction-market pressures and strong prior-year growth, while stating that activity in aerospace and defense supports its outlook for fiscal 2026.
Smiths Detection, which provides threat-detection and screening systems, delivered double-digit organic revenue growth, extending momentum from the previous fiscal year. The company cited continued strong demand for detection products.
Smiths Interconnect, the division being sold to Molex, continued what the company described as strong early-year performance, supported by activity in aerospace, defense and semiconductor test markets.
Chief executive Roland Carter said the company is continuing to streamline its portfolio, adding that Smiths is continuing to “progress both the parallel sale and demerger processes for Smiths Detection as we execute our plan to focus Smiths as a high-performance industrial engineering company.”