STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Industrial technology group Hexagon on Tuesday proposed a 9% increase to its dividend, with the Swedish company’s new CEO flagging “good momentum” going into 2023.
The maker of measurement and positioning systems and software had released fourth-quarter earnings on Monday after information security concerns prompted it to report results earlier than planned.
Hexagon said on Monday that it had discovered an isolated event of unauthorised access on one email account containing information related to the results. It said operations had not been affected by the incident, which has been fully resolved, and found no evidence that confidential information was taken.
The company proposed a dividend of 0.12 euros per share for 2022, up from 0.11 euros the previous year, after reporting 15% fourth-quarter sales growth and adjusted operating profit up 12% year on year at 418 million euros ($455.3 million), roughly in line with expectations.
“While component supply constraints continued, the negative impact in the quarter was small and we consider the situation largely resolved moving forward,” new Chief Executive Paolo Guglielmini said on Tuesday in the company’s full quarterly earnings report.
“Hexagon has good momentum going into 2023. We are well placed to deal with the global economy’s many challenges and will continue to invest in new technologies.”
The former chief operating officer has been CEO since the end of 2022, succeeding Ola Rollen, who is set to become group chairman from May.
Hexagon’s sensors and software are used for measurement and quality inspection in manufacturing processes and engineering plant design, as well as in infrastructure planning, construction, mining, agriculture and energy.
($1 = 0.9180 euros)
(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by David Goodman)
