Oxford Instruments Plc has reported pre-tax profits of UKP4.2m for the six months to September 29, down from last year’s UKP6m, and turnover fell 3.8% to UKP49.7m. The company says that its synchrotron has been operating successfully at IBM’s East Fishkill facility for several weeks with excellent stored currents and beam lifetimes. Further work is underway, and Oxford expects that final commissioning will take place in the second half. Manufacture of a second unit is continuing, but Oxford makes no mention of possible customers. Its Magnetic Resonance Imaging joint venture with Siemens, Oxford Magnet Technology Ltd, is said to be producing excellent results with strong demand for the active shield imaging magnets. The Patient Monitoring business performed well in the first half, and Oxford says it is particularly pleased that the Superconducting Technology Group in New Jersey was selected as the sole vendor of superconducting cable by the Brookhaven National Laboratory in the US, an order worth $6.5m. Also, STG received a $3m contract for products for the Superconducting Supercollider project in Texas, and it hopes that will lead to further business as the programme develops. The company acknowledges that demand in other areas of business has been disappointing, and it is attempting to cut costs at its Eynsham facility through early retirements and voluntary redundancies. Nonetheless, it is making further capital investments to ramp up production of superconducting magnet systems. Last year’s rationalisation at the Link Microanalysis buiness in High Wycombe led to a profitable first half, but this was offset by losses at Tennelec Nuclear Measurement. Industrial Analysis, based in Abingdon, performed well enough to bring Analytical Systems into profit, but Plasma Technology continues to make a loss. July saw the establishment of Oxford Instruments KK in Japan, and the parent company says it is confident of future benefits. The company sounds a cautious note and says that outlook for the second half is constrained by the rate of new orders, and demand is below the corresponding period last year with no indication of a significant upturn. Nonetheless, it is raising its dividend by 4% to 1.4 pence, saying that reflects continued confidence in the future once immediate recessionary effects are over.
