Advanced Medical Solutions Group PLC on Wednesday saw its shares rise, following a ‘robust financial performance’ in the first half, and amid news of a takeover bid.

For the six months ended June 30, the Cheshire, England-based surgical dressings company reported pretax profit of £5.7 million, down 52% from £11.8 million a year prior.

Revenue, by contrast, was up 8% at £68.0 million from £63.1 million.

This discrepancy reflected a £7.5 million exceptional hit during the half, which was incurred as a result of the acquisitions of Peters Surgical and Syntacoll.

The firm declared an interim dividend per share of 0.77p, up 10% from 0.70p the year before.

Looking ahead, it expects annual revenue and adjusted profit in line with expectations.

‘We are delighted with the progress made so far this year, having completed the acquisitions of Peters Surgical and Syntacoll and now being able to report such a strong first half performance from the AMS Surgical business unit,’ said Chief Executive Officer Chris Meredith.

‘Whilst Woundcare has continued to struggle, we believe we have a pathway to improving its profitability. We feel confident that our enlarged portfolio, greater geographic reach, the synergies that we believe can be established over the next three years, combined with the revitalised momentum established in the legacy AMS Surgical business has set us on a very strong trajectory for growth in the long-term.’

Advanced Medical Solutions’ results come amid press reports of a possible takeover bid for the firm from the private equity group, Inflexion Private Equity Partners LLP.

According to a report from Sky News on Tuesday evening, Inflexion has been studying a takeover of Advanced Medical Solutions Group, which has a market cap of £546.6 million.

Sources close to both parties have played down suggestions of live deal negotiations, Sky added, while other private equity firms have also ‘been circling AMS Group in recent weeks’.

https://news.sky.com/story/london-listed-medical-group-ams-draws-private-equity-interest-13216821

Shares in Advanced Medical Solutions were trading 4.3% higher at 251.92 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

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