ALS: More Life Sciences Acquisitions, Though It’s Not All Plain Sailing

No-moat ALS has announced that underlying net profit after tax to March 2024 is expected to be at the lower end of the standing AUD 310 million-AUD 325 million guidance range. The materials testing specialist says higher-than-expected corporate and interest costs are at the core of this. We reduce our forecast to AUD 310 million from AUD 320 million, and our new earnings per share forecast is AUD 0.64. Our dividend per share forecast declines in parallel to AUD 38.4 cents, equivalent to only a moderate 3.0% part-franked yield at the current share price.