UK's Hunting launches $40 million buyback, hikes annual dividend growth target

(Reuters) -British energy services firm Hunting plans to buy back shares worth $40 million and achieve a higher annual dividend growth as it forecast a 16% jump in first-half core profit, sending shares to a five-month high on Wednesday.

Hunting, which manufactures critical components, high‑technology systems and precision parts for the oil and gas industry, said it plans to grow its annual dividend by 13%, up from its prior target of over 10%.

Core profit in the first half of 2025 would be between $68 million and $70 million, the company said, and reaffirmed its 2025 core earnings forecast of between $135 million and $145 million.

At a time when companies globally are taking action to mitigate the costs of tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump, the British firm expects no material impact to its operations as its supply chain is globally diversified.

"We're well placed to bypass tariff barriers... In some product lines, we've simply rerouted supply to avoid tariff-impacted markets," CFO Bruce Ferguson told Reuters in an interview.

"Hunting Titan and our U.S. operations are supported by U.S.-based supply chains, there's no tariff risk there."

Hunting Titan is a major product division that manufactures and distributes perforating and logging systems.

Shares were last up 12% at 338 pence by 0821 GMT.

"We think Hunting remains well positioned for any recovery in the U.S. and benefits from an increasingly diversified revenue base geared towards international and subsea markets, making it more resilient to lower commodity prices," Berenberg analysts said in a note.

(Reporting by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)