Judges Scientific PLC shares fell on Tuesday, after it said trade has been ‘subdued’ in the first four months of 2024.

Judges Scientific is a London-based company focused on acquiring and developing businesses in the scientific instrument sector. Shares in the company were down 7.3% to 10,800.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning.

Ahead of its annual general meeting on Tuesday, Judges Scientific updated its shareholders.

When Judges published its 2023 annual results in March, it noted that it was envisaging another coring expedition during the course of 2024, however, Geotek Ltd had not contracted for this expedition. The company acquired Daventry, England-based geological equipment manufacturer Geotek in 2022.

It also noted that there was uncertainty around its timing and the amount of any related revenue to be recognised in 2024.

Judges on Tuesday said: ‘We can confirm that the next Geotek contract is now in negotiation, and specifies an expedition starting at the very end of 2024, implying no recognisable revenue in the current financial year.’

It also noted that trading in the first four months of the year has been ‘subdued relative to strong prior year comparatives.’

However, it added that the second half looks ‘more promising’ and it expects the performance to by second half weighted.

Looking ahead to the full-years, Judges anticipates annual results to be in line with market expectations, citing an adjusted pretax profit of £34.0 million and adjusted basic earnings per share of 384.6p.

In 2023, Judges reported an adjusted pretax profit of £31.7 million and adjusted basic EPS of 374.6p.

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