Spirax Group plc (LON:SPX) has announced its trading update in respect of the four months ended 30 April 2026
Organic growth in line with expectations across all Businesses; full-year guidance reiterated
Economic environment
Macroeconomic uncertainty remained elevated, with conflict in the Middle East adding to the ongoing trade tariff developments and higher energy costs weighing on industrial production growth. Global IP1 in Q1 2026 was 1.4%, remaining weak in key European markets. Excluding China, IP was 1.5% with the full year forecast of 1.9% broadly unchanged from February and weighted to the second half. We remain cautious on the IP outlook as reflected in our guidance.
Trading
We continued to execute against our strategic priorities, delivering organic growth ahead of IP alongside margin progression.
Demand trends were consistent with those highlighted in our 2025 full year results in March.
In STS2, demand grew ahead of IP and in line with our expectations, supported by sustained strength in MRO and solutions across all regions and some recovery in large project demand. Demand in China and Korea also continued to recover. ETS2 delivered double-digit demand growth across all divisions, including continuing strong growth in Semicon3. In WMFTS2, demand remained robust in both Process Industries and Biopharm3.
As a result, we delivered mid-single-digit organic growth in Group revenues. Group adjusted operating profit margin improved on an organic basis compared to the same period in 2025.
Financial Position
Net borrowings (excluding leases) at the end of the first quarter were £575 million (31 December 2025: £565 million), representing a net debt to EBITDA ratio of 1.5x (31 December 2025: 1.5x). The final dividend of 121.1 pence per share, representing a 3% increase over 2024 and a cash impact of £89 million, will be paid on 22 May 2026, subject to shareholder approval.
Outlook
We have delivered organic growth across the Group in the first four months of the year in line with our expectations and despite the weak IP environment, we reiterate our guidance for 2026. We anticipate mid-single-digit organic growth in Group revenues well ahead of IP; and an increase in Group adjusted operating profit margin on an organic basis. We continue to expect organic growth in revenue and adjusted operating profit margin to be higher in the second half of the year, reflecting our usual seasonal profile.
1 ‘IP’: Industrial Production growth; source: CHR Economics, April 2026
2 ‘STS’: Steam Thermal Solutions; ‘ETS’: Electric Thermal Solutions; ‘WMFTS’: Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Solutions
3 ‘Biopharm’: WMFTS sales to the Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology sector; ‘Semicon’: ETS sales to the Semiconductor Wafer Fabrication Equipment Manufacturing sector
* Eliminates scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions when connected to a green electricity source.
