Engineering group IMI exceeds £2bn in revenue

IMI revenues surpassed £2billion last year following a bumper performance from its precision engineering business.

The Birmingham-based company, which designs fluid control technology for sectors like energy, life sciences and industrial automation, saw turnover increase by 10 per cent to £2.05billion in 2022.

Over the same period, profits grew for the third consecutive year, rising by £30million to £226.3million as price hikes and efficiency savings from restructuring programmes compensated for added cost pressures.

Growth: Birmingham-based IMI, which designs fluid control technology for sectors like energy and industrial automation, saw turnover increase by 10 per cent to £2.05billion in 2022

All three of the firm’s divisions achieved expansion in sales and operating earnings, but its precision engineering arm was behind the majority of growth as its revenues climbed by £150million to £986million.

IMI said trading within the segment reflected ‘positive conditions in our core end markets’ and strong performances from recently acquired businesses.

The firm said the order book of Adaptas, a laboratory equipment supplier bought in December 2021, was 66 per cent higher year-on-year at £40million.

Since then, the FTSE 250 group has acquired German company Bahr for £83million, as well as micro-fluidics specialist CorSolutions and Blackburn-based Heatmiser.

IMI purchased Blackburn-based Heatmiser, a manufacturer of thermostats and underfloor heating systems, as part of plans to enhance its presence in the ‘smart buildings’ sector.

Demand for smart temperature controls has been soaring in recent years and is expected to continue growing due to heightened concerns about climate change and energy efficiency.

The topic of energy conservation accelerated in importance last year after oil and gas prices skyrocketed following the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions and the Ukraine war.

But the firm’s critical engineering business, which is heavily exposed the petroleum industry, saw aftermarket orders jump by 16 per cent on an organic basis, while the division’s order book at the end of December was 18 per cent higher year-on-year at £627million.

Chief executive Roy Twite, who joined IMI 35 years ago, said: ‘We are aligned to attractive growth markets and have a resilient portfolio that is supported by long-term global macroeconomic trends.

‘This, combined with our continued focus on customer satisfaction, market-led innovation and complexity reduction, is creating real value.’

The company has announced a proposed final dividend of 17.4p per share for investors, taking its full-year dividend to 25.7p, an 8 per cent rise on the previous year.

IMI shares were 0.25 per cent lower at £15.79 on late Friday afternoon but have expanded by more than half over the past three years.

This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk