Huntleigh expansion doubles sales

Huntleigh Technology, the manufacturer and designer of medical care equipment, virtually doubled sales to £70.1m for the year to 31 December.

The increase was due to expansion by the German subsidiary and US operations. The acquisition of Nesbit Evans in November 1993 helped expand the group's product range.

The result includes a healthy underlying organic growth at existing divisions where sales and profits increased by 33 per cent and 44 per cent respectively.

Underlying group pre-tax profits, after redundancy costs of £220,000 for former executives of Nesbit Evans, rose by 42 per cent to £9.8m.

There was also an exceptional item of £3.1m, which relates to a proposed settlement between the group's US subsidiary and the federal authorities over ambiguities on the industry coding of certain medical pumps.

The company said the planned payment would only have a minimal impact on future profit and investment.

Earnings per share rose to 22.4p from 17.3p in 1993. The final dividend is 3.25p per share, giving a total of 6p, a rise of 33 per cent on 1993.