REG - Smiths Group PLC - Smiths Group Q1 FY26 Trading Statement

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RNS Number : 0580I  Smiths Group PLC  19 November 2025

News Release

19 November 2025

 

 

SMITHS GROUP PLC - Q1 FY2026 TRADING UPDATE

Pioneers of progress - engineering a better future

 

Q1 performance in line with expectations, FY2026 guidance reaffirmed

Announcing new £1bn share buyback

Smiths Group plc ('Smiths' or 'the Group') today announces its trading
statement for the first quarter to

31 October 2025 and the launch of a new £1bn share buyback programme.

 

Q1 performance

Organic revenue growth(1) for continuing operations(2) was +3.5% for the three
months to 31 October 2025, in line with our overall expectations. This growth
was achieved against an outstanding growth comparator of +12.9% in Q1 FY2025.

 

As a result of this performance and supported by our order book, we are
reaffirming our FY2026 guidance on a continuing operations basis of full-year
organic revenue growth of 4-6%, with continuing margin expansion, supported by
the on-track delivery of the Acceleration Plan.

 

Delivering on our strategy

Following the announcement of the sale of Smiths Interconnect to Molex
Electronic Technologies Holdings, LLC for £1.3bn, and in line with our
commitment to return a large portion of disposal proceeds, the Board has
approved a new £1bn share buyback programme. This new buyback will commence
once the current £500m buyback concludes in December 2025 and is targeted to
be substantially completed by the end of calendar year 2026. To date, the
Group has completed £464m of the existing programme(3).

 

This announcement demonstrates the continuing progress against the strategic
actions announced in January 2025 to maximise value creation, whilst taking a
disciplined approach to capital allocation, allowing sufficient headroom to
fund investment for growth alongside a strong and efficient balance sheet and
a solid investment grade credit rating.

 

Smiths continues to progress both the parallel sale and demerger processes for
Smiths Detection as we execute our plan to focus Smiths as a high-performance
industrial engineering company.

 

Business performance

First quarter organic revenue growth for continuing operations was in line
with expectations at +3.5%.

·    John Crane posted marginal organic revenue decline against high
single-digit growth in the prior year period. This performance was supported
by our strong focus on execution which continued to drive operational
improvements. The FY2026 growth outlook is supported by our strong and
expanding order book in both original equipment and aftermarket, and despite
some market-driven project timing uncertainties.

·    Flex-Tek recorded flat organic revenue in the quarter, reflecting the
anticipated ongoing weakness in the US residential construction market and the
strong growth in the prior year. Growth in aerospace was strong, with good
execution against our order book which supports our FY2026 outlook. The
integration processes for Modular Metal, Duc-Pac and Wattco continue to track
to plan.

·    Smiths Detection delivered double digit organic revenue growth,
continuing the positive momentum from FY2025. Demand for our leading detection
products translates into a strong order book, and continued high levels of
installation activity of our next generation detection technology.

 

The strong performance of Smiths Interconnect continued through Q1 with strong
demand for our products and technologies in aerospace and defence and
semi-conductor test end markets.

 

Roland Carter, Chief Executive Officer, commented: "We have had a good start
to the year with the announced sale of Smiths Interconnect and a Q1
performance in line with our expectations as we continue to deliver growth and
execute against our commitments. This performance reflects the dedicated
contribution of our employees. We are re-shaping Smiths to ensure an exciting
future as a premium-rated, focused industrial engineering company and our
relentless focus on high performance underpins our ambition to drive long-term
growth and margin expansion.

 

"I am particularly delighted that we have secured such a great outcome for
Smiths Interconnect, with a valuation of £1.3bn. This demonstrates the value
we have created and supports our commitment to delivering attractive
shareholder returns. We have now returned £1.8bn to shareholders over the
last four years, and reflecting the value we have secured for Smiths
Interconnect, today we announce the launch of a new buyback of £1bn to
commence once our current buyback is complete."

 

 

 (1) Organic revenue growth excludes the effects of foreign exchange and
 M&A.

 (2) Continuing operations refers to the combination of John Crane, Flex-Tek
 and Smiths Detection (ie excludes Smiths Interconnect); Smiths refers to the
 combination of John Crane and Flex-Tek only

 (3) Of the £500m share buyback: £41m returned in FY2024, £308m returned in
 FY2025 and a further £115m in FY2026 to date.

 

 Investor enquiries               Media enquiries
 Siobhán Andrews, Smiths Group    Tom Steiner, Smiths Group

+44 (0)7920 230093

siobhan.andrews@smiths.com      +44 (0)7787 415891

                                  tom.steiner@smiths.com

 Ana Pita da Veiga, Smiths Group  Alex Le May, FTI Consulting

+44 (0)7702 443312
 +44 (0)7386 689442
smiths@fticonsulting.com

 ana.pitadaveiga@smiths.com

Legal Entity Identifier (LEI): 213800MJL6IPZS3ASA11

About Smiths Group

For over 170 years, we have been pioneers of progress, engineering a better
future. Our strategy is to be a focussed, efficient and value creating
industrial engineering company operating in the attractive and growing market
segments of energy, industrials and construction.

 

We focus on solving the toughest problems for our customers, helping address
critical global needs such as decarbonisation and the ever-increasing demand
for process and energy efficiency. Listed on the London Stock Exchange, we
employ c.16,000 colleagues in over 50 countries. For more, visit
www.smiths.com (http://www.smiths.com) .

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