Annual sales and profits at Newmarket-based Tristel to come in ahead of market expectations

Tristel, based at Snailwell, near Newmarket, said in a final trading update ahead of its annual results that turnover for the year would be in excess of £17m, up from £15.3m a year ago and also ahead of expectations, with pre-tax profit totalling at least £3.1m, against £2.6m last time.

Company chairman Francisco Soler said: “The company enjoyed very strong second half growth in both the UK and overseas compared to last year.”

And he added: “The company’s plans to enter the United States market remain on track following a successful meeting with the Food and Drug Administration in Washington on April 28.”

The company also said it would be paying a special dividend, reflecting strong cash generation during the past year, and announced the acquisition of its distibutor in Australia.

Tristel said it had “continued to generate signficant levels of cash”, with its balance rising from £4m at the start of the year to £5.7m at the close.

“The company has not debt,” it added. “Accordingly the board has decided to return to shareholders the portion of this cash that it considers surplus to its investment and operational requirements and announces a special dividend of 3p per share.”

Tristel said that the special dividend, together with the acquisition of Melbourne-based Ashmed, its distributor in Australia since 2011, in a deal valued at 1.35m Australian dollars (about £768,000), would still leave it with cash reserves of more than £3m going forward.

It said the acquisition would “improve significantlY” its margins in the Australia market and contribute at least £100,000 to earnings in the current financial year.

The special dividend will be payable on August 5, almost exactly a year since its previous special dividend which was also worth 3p per share.

The final dividend for the year to June 30 will be announced with the company’s annual results in October.