Wednesday, June 20, 2007
China safety regimes to benefit Halma
By Chris Bryant
Published: June 20 2007, FT
Better policing of health and safety standards in China is set to drive revenue growth at Halma, the safety, health and sensor technology group, which is looking to expand its presence in the country.
Halma last year established two "hubs" in Shanghai and Beijing, and seven subsidiaries within the group established a local presence in China.
China represents 2 to 3 per cent of Halma's revenues, with Asia accounting for 10 per cent in total, but these numbers are expected to grow as awareness and the regulation of safety issues improves.
“China is clearly a significant opportunity,” Andrew Williams, chief executive, said. “At the moment a lot of worker safety procedures have been imported by western companies that have created manufacturing facilities in China.”
New safety legislation was starting to come through, Mr Williams said, but this is dependent on better policing and enforcement.
Halma's three divisions – industrial, infrastructure and health – make safety components including smoke detectors, water purification instruments and automatic door sensors. Its infrastructure customers include GE, Honeywell and Tyco.
In the year to March 31, the UK-based company completed five acquisitions for a total of £27.5m ($54.7m) but has no plans to slow its acquisition strategy, in spite of investors' concerns that good-value assets are becoming harder to find.
Halma has barely touched its £60m debt facility, which was put in place last year, and finished the year with a £7.7m of net debt, providing scope for further acquisitions.
The group's industrial safety unit recorded the strongest growth of the three arms, with increasing demand from the oil and gas sectors, which now represent 30 per cent of industrial revenues. ¶ 11:43 PM
Published: June 20 2007, FT
Better policing of health and safety standards in China is set to drive revenue growth at Halma, the safety, health and sensor technology group, which is looking to expand its presence in the country.
Halma last year established two "hubs" in Shanghai and Beijing, and seven subsidiaries within the group established a local presence in China.
China represents 2 to 3 per cent of Halma's revenues, with Asia accounting for 10 per cent in total, but these numbers are expected to grow as awareness and the regulation of safety issues improves.
“China is clearly a significant opportunity,” Andrew Williams, chief executive, said. “At the moment a lot of worker safety procedures have been imported by western companies that have created manufacturing facilities in China.”
New safety legislation was starting to come through, Mr Williams said, but this is dependent on better policing and enforcement.
Halma's three divisions – industrial, infrastructure and health – make safety components including smoke detectors, water purification instruments and automatic door sensors. Its infrastructure customers include GE, Honeywell and Tyco.
In the year to March 31, the UK-based company completed five acquisitions for a total of £27.5m ($54.7m) but has no plans to slow its acquisition strategy, in spite of investors' concerns that good-value assets are becoming harder to find.
Halma has barely touched its £60m debt facility, which was put in place last year, and finished the year with a £7.7m of net debt, providing scope for further acquisitions.
The group's industrial safety unit recorded the strongest growth of the three arms, with increasing demand from the oil and gas sectors, which now represent 30 per cent of industrial revenues. ¶ 11:43 PM
