SDI Group PLC on Tuesday reported a rise in revenue following two successful acquisitions in its financial year.

SDI, a Cambridge-based medical technology company, said revenue in the year ended April 30 was up 36% to £67.6 million, from £49.7 million the year before.

The company said this was from the impact of its acquisitions of scientific equipment suppliers Scientific Vacuum Systems Ltd and Safelab Systems Ltd in financial 2022, and from contributions of LTE Scientific Ltd and Fraser Anti-Static Techniques in financial 2023.

Pretax profit fell 41% to £5.8 million, from £9.9 million the prior year, meanwhile.

Chair Ken Ford said: ‘The group has added two high quality businesses to the portfolio in [financial 2023]. We continue to execute our proven value-creating business model by investing in capacity and capability to enable organic growth amongst our portfolio of businesses, as well as buying and building where acquisition opportunities present themselves.’

SDI swung to net debt of £13.3 million as at April 30, from a net cash position of £1.1 million at the beginning of its financial year. Cash generated from operations fell 26% to £10.9 million, from £14.7 million the year before. This partly was due to a £2.9 million build-up of inventories and a £3.5 million reduction in customer advances.

The company said acquisitions of new businesses were its largest outlay, deploying £18.7 million on a cash-free basis, up 70% from £11.0 million the year before.

SDI did not declare a dividend, unchanged from the year prior, to ensure it maintains ‘the right level of operating capital and funding available for acquisitions’.

‘Against the backdrop of an uncertain economic environment, the portfolio effect of a group of agile businesses operating in multiple markets remains an effective strategy in delivering organic growth,’ said Chair Ford.

‘We will continue to build through acquisition, and we will look to unlock synergies within our portfolio of businesses. While we are mindful of the challenging external environment, we remain optimistic for the year ahead and we expect to deliver [financial 2024] results in line with expectations.’

Shares in SDI Group were down 2.4% at 120.00 pence in London on Tuesday afternoon.

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