Intertek Group Share News (ITRK)

Intertek, the testing and inspections firm, has paid £450m for Moody, a provider of quality and safety services to the global energy industry.The purchase of Haywards Heath-based Moody on a cash-free and debt-free basis will create "significant" benefits and opportunities, including pre-tax cost synergies of about £6m by the third full year of ownership It made $49m in 2009 on revenue of $457m. Operating profit before the deduction of goodwill amortisation (EBITA) was $66m. EBITA for 2010 was $54m on revenue of $476m."Today's announcement marks an important stage in the ongoing development of Intertek," chief executive Wolfhart Hauser. The news came as the group posted an adjusted profit before tax of £211.9m, up 11% on 2009, and revenue of £1.37bn, 11% higher than the year before, or 9% at constant currency. That's in line with predictions made in November."Intertek has produced strong results for the year with a notable acceleration in the second half," Hauser said. "Market conditions improved as the year progressed and we invested in both people and assets to capture this recovering growth."Operating profit margin, with the acquisition, is expected to be "broadly similar" in 2011 with that of 2010, though it should progressively increase over the medium term.There's a final dividend of 18.8p a share, taking the total payout to 28.1p, up 10% on 2009.