Recession is continuing to bite into the sales of superconducting magnet company Oxford Instruments Plc, with improved margins and tight overhead controls offsetting the decline. The company reported pre-tax profits up 1% at ?4.3m on revenues down 9.2% at ?45.1m for the six months to September 27. The outlook for the second half was affected by uncertainty over future orders and recovery in most markets seemed a long way off, it said. Its joint venture with Siemens, Oxford Magnet Technology Ltd remains the company’s bright spot, continuing its outstanding performance with output in the half year again increased. Demand for Magnetic Resonance Imaging scanners has remained steady also. The remainder of the business has experienced more mixed fortunes. NMR Instruments, Medical Systems and Micro Analysis Group, which made a contribution to profits last time (CI No 1,941), have suffered particular difficulties. Oxford Magnet hopes that the Windows-based Micro Analysis’ Isis material research system released this August and the Medical Systems’ revised Optima cardiology system released in September will boost flagging sales. Research Instruments and the Tennessee-based Nuclear Measurements Groups both returned to profit (a breakdown of figures for the individual concerns is not available) and Plasma Technology has also shown an improvement. Their success is expected to continue into the second half. The company’s research and development work is also continuing with its 750MHz NMR magnet said to be progressing well and on target for completion in 1993. Meantime, the Superconducting Technology business in New Jersey has begun to produce trial samples of high temperature superconducting material and to deliver conventional superconducting wire for the Supercollider and Relativistic Heavy Iron collider programmes in the US. There is no news on the synchrotron, installed at IBM’s East Fishkill, New York facility other than that it is still attracting interest from semiconductor manufacturers worldwide. The building of the second model in progress. Although the company said has doubts on recovery in the short term, it is highly confident in its long term future. The directors recommend an unchanged interim dividend of 1.4 pence per share.
