Companies: OXIG   

Advanced instrumentation business Oxford's results for the year to March were well ahead of expectations. It posted pre-tax profits of £9m, up 55%, before exceptional profits of £3m on property disposals. Turnover increased 17% to £214m as the company continued to clear its backlog of orders. Four remain to be cleared, while three are virtually signed up. But, as Investec analyst John Burgess points out, there are a number of pertinent issues, not least of which is the expiry of an agreement with Siemens on the Oxford Magnet Technology joint venture in 2004. This last year provided Oxford with operating profits of £5.2m, up from £4.4m. Oxford hopes to replace these profits with other business, notably from its superconducting magnets division, where technical difficulties have provided an unwelcome distraction. Oxford must also consider the 'disappointing' performance of its medical-focused division, which made a loss of £1.5m in 2001-2, against a small profit last year. A new management is in place there. Burgess expects around £10m pre-tax profits this year and reckons the shares 'are fully-valued'. Time to top-slice.

Oxford Instruments	LSE	£63.6m	128.75p	-0.75p
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