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Liquid-flow control equipment manufacturer Rotork posted a 2.7% improvement in its annual profit after cost saving bolstered its margins.
Pre-tax profit for the year through December increased to £124.1m, up from £120.7m on-year, even as revenue fell 3.8% to £669.3m.
Adjusted pre-tax profit rose 2.9% to £148.1m, as operating margins improved 160 basis points to 22.6%.
Rotork declared a full-year dividend of 6.2p per share, up 5.1% on-year.
'Our growth acceleration programme is on track and progress in 2019 was very encouraging,' chief executive Kevin Hostetler said.
'The year was about margin improvement, cash generation and laying the foundations for sales acceleration.'
'We remain committed to delivering sustainable mid to high single digit revenue growth and mid 20s adjusted operating margins over time.'
Hostetler said it was too early to assess fully the potential impacts of COVID-19.
'Absent these, we were planning for modest sales growth on an organic constant currency basis and margin progress in 2020, driven by further benefits of our growth acceleration programme albeit with margin progress more gradual, reflecting our investment plans,' he added.