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Industrial and medical products supplier Smiths booked a 19% fall in first-half profit and said a spin-off of its medical division was on track for the first half of 2020.
Net profit, including one-off profits and losses from discontinued operations, fell to £227m, down from £279m on-year.
Pre-tax profit from continuing operations rose 19% to £142m, as revenue from continuing operations rose 7% to £2.50bn.
The company's operating margin rose 40 basis points to 17.1%.
Smiths declared a full-year dividend of 45.90p per share, up 3% on-year.
Its medical division returned to growth in the second half with revenue up 2%, delivering flat revenue for the year overall at £874m, in line with expectations.
Headline operating profit in the division, however, fell 6% on an underying basis.
Smiths said that it expected to notch further overall growth in the current financial year, weighted towards the first half that would result in a more even balance in overall performance between the first and second halves.
'We continue to build sustainable growth, paving the way to outperform our markets,' chief executive Andy Reynolds said.
'Importantly, this growth was coupled with enhanced margins, we have now delivered a 300 basis points margin improvement since 2016.'
'In addition, we continued to optimise our portfolio, with two acquisitions completed in the year.'