(Reuters) – Britain’s Spectris said on Thursday that the persistent softness in the Chinese market is likely to continue into the early part of 2025, after the scientific instruments maker cut its annual profit forecast, sending its shares sharply lower.
The company’s stock fell as much as 8% to 2,370 pence in early trade, the lowest level since September 2020.
“During the third quarter the headwinds that we described at the half year – most notably continued softness in China, pharma and academia – have persisted and, from what we can see today, are likely to continue into the early part of 2025,” Chief Executive Andrew Heath said in a statement.
The London-based company, which posted a 13% decline in third-quarter group sales, said the recovery expected at the time of the publication of its half-year results in July was taking longer to materialise.
Spectris said it now expects 2024 adjusted operating profit, including contribution from the acquisition of the SciAps and Micromeritics businesses, of around 200 million pounds ($259.8 million), down about 24% from a year earlier.
In July, Spectris had forecast profit, excluding contribution from the two acquisitions, in line with the market view at the time. Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 225.1 million pounds.
($1 = 0.7699 pounds)
(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema)
