Hill & Smith lifts dividend and takes brighter view of 2026 outcome
Hill & Smith PLC on Wednesday said it expects 2026 underlying operating profit to be "modestly" ahead of previous expectations as it reported mixed first half results.
The Solihull, England-based infrastructure products provider said pretax profit declined 16% to USD69.2 million in the six months ended June 30 from USD82.4 million the year prior, with revenue up 8.1% to USD606.7 million from USD561.1 million.
Hill & Smith booked non-underlying items of USD26.9 million, rising markedly from USD7.2 million a year ago, keeping a lid on profit. These items include business reorganisation costs, impairments, amortisation and the loss on subsidiary disposals.
Underlying pretax profit increased 7.3% to USD96.1 million from USD89.6 million, while underlying operating profit climbed 7.7% to USD102.9 million from USD95.5 million. Underlying operating margin was flat at 17%, but fell to 12.6% from 15.7% on a statutory basis.
Group organic constant currency revenue growth of 5% was driven by robust demand for infrastructure solutions in the US, partially offset by weaker performance in UK Engineered Solutions businesses, the firm said.
US businesses delivered 14% organic constant currency revenue growth, supported by strong demand across both Engineered Solutions and Galvanising, it added.
Revenue from higher-growth priority end markets increased to 39% of revenue from 34% a year ago, reflecting growth in power transmission & distribution and data centre-related markets.
For the whole of 2026, the firm now expects "underlying operating profit to be modestly ahead of our previous expectations". Its previous view was for an outcome around USD212 million, which would have represented a 6.2% hike from USD199.7 million.
Hill & Smith upped its first half dividend by 6.8% to 25.0 cents per share from 23.4 cents and said £58.6 million of its £100 million share buyback had been completed as at August 10.
Chief Executive Rutger Helbing said it has been "another period of strong progress" for Hill & Smith, led by double-digit organic growth in the US and continued strong demand across infrastructure end markets.
"Our recent acquisitions of Freeberg and Hentech are performing well, and the on-track commissioning of Freeberg's new Arizona facility further enhances our capability in a key strategic market. While UK trading conditions remain challenging as expected, we are taking decisive portfolio and operational actions to improve resilience and margins over time," he added.
Hill & Smith said it has an "active and growing pipeline of further attractive M&A opportunities."
Shares in Hill & Smith were down 0.3% at 3,075.00p each in London on Wednesday morning and have risen 56% in the last 12 months.
Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.