A surge in overseas sales spurred bug busting Newmarket company Tristel plc to a 20 per cent rise in revenues in the six months to December 31. The UK share price rose 7p to 607p at the start of trading this week.
The company makes infection prevention and contamination control products utilising proprietary chlorine dioxide chemistry.
Half-year revenue increased 15 per cent to £16.8 million with overseas sales up 20 per cent to £10m – representing 60 per cent of total sales as opposed to 56 per cent the previous year.
Pre-tax profit before share-based payments was up 13 per cent to £3.4m and the interim dividend of 2.62p per share is 12 per cent ahead of the same stage of 2019. The company ended the period with almost twice the cash – £7.3m compared to £4.2m year-on-year.
International expansion dominated: Approval was granted for Tristel’s Duo range of products in India where it appointed national distributor while the company reported a successful start for a new subsidiary in Malaysia with initial six-month sales of £0.24m.
Chief executive Paul Swinney said: “We are pleased with our progress in the first half. Sales growth has been at the top end of our target range of 10-15 per cent and margins have continued to improve.
“We continue to make good progress in our USA regulatory project. We have recently completed the Usability and Human Factors Engineering study which represents an important milestone on our path towards completing our De Novo submission.
“The second half will be the third consecutive six-month period to be impacted by the pandemic. Unlike the previous two halves, we have started this one in lockdown in many of our key markets.
“Sales of our medical device disinfectants during the first seven weeks of 2021 are lower than budget due to the impact of COVID-19 on patient examinations.
“We are very confident that by the end of calendar 2021, the ENT, gynaecology, urology, cardiology, and ophthalmology departments where our products are used will have returned to pre-pandemic levels of activity. Whether this will happen in the UK and Europe before our June year-end is unclear at present.
“However, the growth prospects for the group are as strong as ever and we look to the future with confidence.”