Bodycote, the Macclesfield-based heat treatment and thermal processing giant, said its revenue rose 3.3% to £381.2 million in the half year to June 30, 2026, and profit before tax rose to £41.2 million from £36.6 million.
Interim dividend rose 4.3 % to 7.2p.
Bodycote said its full-year outlook is unchanged, with the firm expecting “to deliver organic revenue growth and margin improvement.”
Bodycote said that during the period, it incurred £600,000 of transaction-related costs associated with a potential acquisition of the company by private equity giant Apollo Global Management. The proposed transaction did not proceed to a firm offer.
“The costs comprise of legal, advisory and travel expenses incurred in evaluating the proposal, facilitating due diligence requests and supporting discussions,” said Bodycote.
“The associated costs are non-recurring and unrelated to the group’s ongoing operations and have been classified as an exceptional item, in accordance with the group’s accounting policy.”
On May 22, Bodycote said it received a conditional proposal from Apollo regarding a possible £1.5 billion cash offer for the entire share capital of Bodycote. On June 5, Bodycote said Apollo “does not intend to make a firm offer for Bodycote.”
Bodycote CEO Jim Fairbairn said: “We progressed well in the first half and have achieved results in line with our expectations. Organic growth was supported by strong demand across our target end markets, partly offset by the ongoing structural weakness in Western European Automotive.
“We continue to execute on our Optimise, Perform and Grow strategy. In light of the success of the Optimise programme to-date, as well as continued challenges in some of our Automotive and Industrial regional markets, we are exploring the potential to expand the programme’s scope.
“In Perform, we have rolled-out more advanced operational excellence tools, starting at four key ‘lighthouse sites’. In Grow, the Spectrum acquisition has integrated well. We are continuing to progress with both organic investments and further M&A opportunities.
“Our full year expectations are unchanged, albeit we are mindful of the current geopolitical and macroeconomic environment. We expect to deliver Core organic revenue growth in 2026. The overall pace of revenue growth is likely to moderate in the second half, reflecting prior year comparators.
“We expect operating margins to improve in 2026, driven by revenue growth and Optimise benefits, partly offset by a normalisation of variable remuneration and the operational ramp-up costs on our new growth initiatives. We remain confident in the delivery of our medium term targets.”