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ALS CEO Raj Naran told the company's annual general meeting that he that net profit after tax for the first half of the FY2023 should come in at between $157 million and $162 million.
"This reflects continued improvement across the business with double digit total organic revenue growth, supported by higher prices achieved across the portfolio," he said.
"Current performance continues to be supported by strong sample volume flow from geochemistry, which remains up from the prior period, and continued positive momentum from life sciences.
"The business continues to pursue pricing and cost management initiatives to address the current inflationary headwinds."
Naran said the long-term prospects for the company remained strong, supported by positive structural industry mega trends, and its continued focus on efficiency and expanding its geographical footprint and service offerings.
"While the risk of economic pressure from higher inflation, interest rates and market volatility are continuing to emerge, our diversified and flexible business model has proved successful in challenging periods as shown in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic," he said.
Naran said ALS's commodities division continued to be a market leader, posting a significant organic revenue growth of 31% and further margin improvement of 230 basis points.
"Geochemistry sample volumes increased by 32%, with an approximately 15% expansion in capacity completed in FY22 and a further 5% increase in capacity following the acquisition of Minanalytical," he said.
"Organic revenue growth was 42% in the year was supported by volume growth, an increase in testing of base metals and price improvements. Sample volume increases were driven by both major and increasingly by junior miners who accounted for about 40% of volumes at the end of the period.
"The trend of testing for battery related metals, such copper, nickel, lithium, and cobalt, continued throughout the year, and we expect this to continue going forward as society progresses its' sustainability agenda."
