By Jaime Llinares TaboadaSmiths Group PLC said Thursday that it intends to start its 742 million pounds ($994.9 million) share buyback program next week, and that its first-quarter performance was in line with expectations. The engineering company, which in September sold its Smiths Medical arm for $2.7 billion, said that it is making progress towards a faster-than-expected transaction completion, and therefore has decided to bring forward the return of 55% of initial cash proceeds to shareholders. The share buyback program is now expected to start on Nov. 19. Smiths said that revenue for the first quarter ended Oct. 31 rose 1% on an underlying basis, reinforcing confidence in meeting full-year expectations. Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

Source: Wall Street Journal November 11, 2021 07:27 UTC