H1 sales (ex precious metal sales) rose +5% to £1,588m but the gross profit margin declined from 26.2% to 25.4%. Including the £131m divestment gain for Research Chemicals, EBIT jumped +54% to £347m; stripping this out there would have been a 4% decline. Net profit attributable to shareholders came in at £279m after £173m. For FY 2015/16 management sees the group’s performance adjusted for divestments to be similar to that in 2014/15. The announced cost sav
