The Ansell Limited (ASX: ANN) share price is pushing higher on Friday afternoon after releasing an update on its guidance for FY 2021.
At one stage today, the personal protection safety solutions company's shares hit a record high of $42.36.
They have since dropped back a touch, but are up over 1% to $40.79 at the time of writing. This compares to a 0.4% decline by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO).
What did Ansell announce?
Ansell revealed that it has started the new financial year in a very positive fashion despite the continued uncertainties arising from COVID-19.
According to the release, the company has experienced better than anticipated production volumes and sales across all of its five strategic business units.
In addition to this, the company revealed that the Exam/Single Use business has successfully managed supplier cost increases to date. And while it expects further cost increases to occur in the second half, it is working to protect its margins and limit any decline.
Management also advised that its capital expenditure investments, including capacity increases, are progressing to plan, and that exchange rates have been more favourable than originally budgeted.
Guidance upgrade.
As a result of the above, the company is now expecting organic growth to be in the double digits and earnings per share to be in the range of 135 cents to 145 cents.
In respect to the latter, this is an increase of 7.1% from the low end and 5% from the high end of its previous guidance range of 126 cents to 138 cents.
Though, management has warned that there remains considerable uncertainty over the remainder of FY 2021 due to the risks of the evolving impact of COVID-19. It notes that the pandemic could disrupt its supply chains and operations, and has the potential for broader macroeconomic weakness and FX volatility.
