Engineer Renishaw to discontinue operations at diagnostics unit

(Reuters) - Precision engineering group Renishaw Plc (RSW.L) said it would discontinue operations at its diagnostics unit as it had not received any acceptable offers, and said 33 staff would be made redundant.

Renishaw Diagnostics, which was spun off from Strathclyde University in Glasgow, develops technologies to detect infectious diseases in humans.

First-quarter pretax profit fell to 14.1 million pounds from 16.3 million pounds a year earlier, the company said.

Shares in Renishaw were up 0.3 percent at 2,901 pence at 1006 GMT on the London Stock Exchange, slightly better than a 0.2 percent fall in the FTSE 250 index (.FTMC).

(Reporting by Mamidipudi Soumithri in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto)