Halma shares plunged 17% to 3,844p after the FTSE 100 group posted record revenue and profit and said it is targeting low double-digit organic constant-currency revenue growth for the new financial year.
Adjusted EBIT margin is expected to hold in line with the 2026 level, excluding a one-off licence gain, with around five percentage points of the anticipated organic growth attributable to a photonics premium.
For the year just ended, revenue rose 15% to £2,582.3 million and adjusted EBIT reached a record £594.5 million, with organic revenue growth of approximately 16% and adjusted EBIT margin expanding 140 basis points to 23.0%.
Halma invested a record £600 million across the period, including £447 million on acquisitions, £123 million on research and development and £56 million on capital expenditure.
Growth was broad-based, with Environmental and Analysis the standout sector, posting revenue of £1,037.7 million, up 33.6%, driven by the photonics premium which contributed around eight percentage points to organic growth.
Safety revenue rose 5.0% to £947.5 million and Healthcare grew 4.9% to £598.4 million.
The year included a one-off Nuvonic licence gain of £9.9 million of revenue and £9.3 million of adjusted profit, which management treats as non-recurring.
The group closed the year with net debt of £769.1 million, representing 1.16 times adjusted EBITDA, and is proposing a total dividend of 24.74 pence per share, up 7%.
