Charter pretax profit up amid strong emerging markets

LONDON (Reuters) - Engineer Charter PLC (CHTR.L) reported a 14 percent rise in first half pretax profit and said continued strong trading thanks partly to orders in emerging markets gave it confidence for the year ahead.

Charter -- which has two units, welding equipment maker ESAB and gas handling equipment producer Howden -- reported pretax profit of 104.6 million pounds, up from 92.1 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 30 percent across the group, to 900 million pounds.

Separately, Charter announced plans to move its head office and tax residence to Ireland, while remaining listed on the LSE.

The company said the move, which will reduce its tax bill, also reflected the fact that less than 5 percent of its total sales are now in the UK.

Chief executive Michael Foster said: "With a strong balance sheet and the trading performance to date, the board continues to view the prospects for 2008 with confidence."

ESAB had a "record" order book at June 30, said the company, benefiting from its market leading position in emerging markets, while Howden's order book at that date was 531 million pounds, up from 417 million at the end of December.

(Reporting by Rosalba O'Brien; Editing by Andrew Callus)