What did you make of Smiths Group’s results?
HELAL MIAH | THE SHARE CENTRE
The company has a solid free cash flow enabling acquisitions, research and development investment. But, the uncertain global environment and squeeze on government spending, particularly in the US and the Eurozone, is likely to offset these gains.
JONATHAN JACKSON | KILLIK & CO
The main drivers of the outperformance were John Crane, due to higher volumes and better aftermarket pricing, and Smiths Medical, due to a strong performance in emerging markets. Interconnect benefited from the acquisition of PDI, although adverse mix shift impacted profitability.
ANDRE KUKHNIN | CREDIT SUISSE
The company remains confident on its ability to deliver further operational improvements to finance investment in new product development and in emerging markets presence, but ongoing macro uncertainty leads to some caution on the 2013 financial year outlook.