Newmarket: Tristel upgrades first half sales and profits forecasts

Tristel, the manufacturer of infection prevention and contamination control products, today upgraded expectations for its first half results.

The company, based at Snailwell, near Newmarket, said that, following a better-than-expected December, revenues would top £6.4million, against £4.4m for last year’s first half, and pre-tax profits would be above £700,000, compared with a £600,000 loss at last year’s half-way stage.

The company, which supplies the human healthcare, animal healthcare and contamination control markets through three branded product ranges, Tristel, Anistel and Crystel, added that had seed “encouraging” performances from all business segments.

Its latest forecasts are ahead of those given at its annual general meeting last month.

Chief executive Paul Swinney said: “We are delighted with the progress made in the first half of this financial year, in particular the growth seen in sales of Tristel’s products used to disinfect non and single lumened instruments, hospital surfaces and within aseptic units.

“We continue to build upon these successes with confidence that they will continue into the second half and beyond.”

Broker Finncap said it was upgrading its full-year sales forecast for Tristel from £11.4m to £11.9m and its earnings forecast from £1.9m to £2.2m.

Finncap said: “We are upgrading our forecasts for the year ending June 2014 and raising our target price to 52p (from 38p). We believe the risk to our 2015 forecasts, which are currently unchanged, is on the upside.”

Tristel is due to report its results for the six months to December 31 on March 3.