Renishaw raises full-year forecast citing strong order book

Jan 6 (Reuters) - British precision engineering company Renishaw Plc (LSE: RSW.L - news) raised its full-year revenue and profit forecast citing "good momentum" in its business and a record order book, sending its shares up more than 6 percent.

The company, which makes machine tool probes and gauges, said it expected a full-year pretax profit of 120 million-140 million pounds ($182 million-$212 million) and revenue of 465 million-495 million pounds in the year ending June 30.

Analysts on average were expecting a full-year pretax profit of 94.9 million pounds and revenue of 425.7 million pounds, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

In November, Renishaw forecast full-year revenue of between 425 million and 445 million pounds and an adjusted pretax profit of between 95 million and 105 million pounds, citing strong demand across its product lines.

The company reported strong fourth-quarter and first-quarter results on the back of large orders from a customer in the Asia-Pacific region, which analysts linked to the launch of new products from Apple Inc (NasdaqGS: AAPL - news) .

Contract manufacturers are believed to use Renishaw's tools, including precision measurement and calibration systems, to make Apple products. Analysts say the slew of new launches from the tech giant had increased demand for Renishaw's tools.

The company also said on Tuesday that it expected revenue for the first half ended Dec. 31 of about 224 million pounds, an increase of 37 percent from a year earlier.

Profit before tax for the first half is expected to be around 55 million pounds, a 111 percent increase from a year ago, Renishaw said.

The company's shares closed up 4.9 percent at 2059 pence on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) . Renishaw is due to report first-half results on Jan. 29. ($1 = 0.6592 pounds) (Reporting by Roshni Menon in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Jennings)