Halma PLC on Thursday said it has promoted Chief Financial Officer Marc Ronchetti to chief executive designate and reported a rise in annual profit and revenue.

Halma shares were down 4.8% at 1,894.50 pence each on Thursday morning in London.

Halma is an Amersham, England-based hazard detection and life protection services provider.

The group said Andrew Williams has decided to retire as group chief executive on April 1 next year, after 18 years in the role and 29 years with the company.

Ronchetti joined Halma in 2016 and became chief financial officer in 2019, previously having been finance director of the UK operations of Wolseley, which is now Ferguson PLC. He will become only the fourth Halma chief executive in 50 years.

A search is underway to identify a new CFO to succeed Ronchetti.

Chair Louise Makin said: ‘Andrew is an outstanding leader who has delivered exceptional value for our stakeholders and transformed Halma into one of Britain’s most admired companies. After a rigorous selection process, I am delighted that Marc will become Halma’s 4th chief executive in 50 years.’

Turning to annual results the company revenue surged 16% to £1.53 billion in the year ended March 31, from £1.32 billion. Pretax profit increased by 20% to £304.4 million from £252.9 million.

Halma said all of its sectors delivered double-digit rates of revenue and profit growth on an organic constant currency basis.

Outgoing CEO Williams said: ‘This was a year of notable achievements for Halma, with revenue exceeding £1.5 billion and profit £300 million for the first time. We delivered our 19th consecutive year of record profit, and our 43rd consecutive year of dividend growth of 5% or more, while substantially increasing strategic investment including further strengthening our leadership, teams and culture to support our future growth.’

The company is recommending a 7% increase in the final dividend to 11.52 pence per share, compared to 10.78p per share in the previous year.

This would result in a total dividend of 18.88p per share, up 7.0% from 17.65p.

Looking ahead, Halma expects ‘good’ single-digit percentage organic revenue growth at constant currency. It said it’s well-positioned to make further progress in the full year and in the longer-term.

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