By Stuart Condie

SYDNEY--Protective-garment manufacturer Ansell said that its first-half profit more than doubled, and raised its full-year earnings guidance despite the potential impact of U.S. tariffs.

The Australia-listed company, which reports in U.S. dollars, on Monday reported a net profit of $55.0 million for the six months through December, compared with $19.4 million a year earlier.

Revenue rose 30% to $1.02 billion, on 19% growth in industrial sales and 40% growth in healthcare sales. The latter was boosted by the July 1 acquisition of assets from Kimberly-Clark and the fulfilment of earlier orders delayed from the previous fiscal year due to Red Sea shipping disruptions.

After a boom in demand driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, Ansell's sales had declined in recent years as customers ran down excess inventory purchased, often at elevated prices.

First-half sales at Ansell, which lifted its dividend to 22.2 cents from 16.5 cents a year earlier, also rebounded from this so-called destocking phase, Chief Executive and Managing Director Neil Salmon said.

The average analyst forecast had been for a net profit of $59.8 million off revenue of $912.6 billion, according to Visible Alpha data.

Ansell reported adjusted earnings-per-share of $0.557, up from $0.55 a year ago. It raised its guidance for annual adjusted EPS, which peaked at $1.92 in fiscal 2021, to between $1.18 and $1.28, from its previous expectation of $1.07 and $1.27.

The company said that organic constant-currency sales growth would likely slow in the June half, from 12.5% in the December half. Healthcare sales will no longer be boosted by recovery from destocking, and no significant one-time order benefits are expected.

Ansell said it would seek to substantially offset the second-half impact of any U.S. tariff increases through higher prices. It completed the upgrade of a warehouse in Mexico in the December half, and relocated some chemical-clothing production from China to Sri Lanka.

Write to Stuart Condie at stuart.condie@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2025 16:36 ET (21:36 GMT)

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