UK's Smiths Group beats profit forecasts, seeks sale of US asbestos liability ↧ ↧ UK's Smiths Group beats profit forecasts, seeks sale of US asbestos... British engineering firm Smiths Group beat expectations with its full-year operating profit on Tuesday and launched a ​process to sell its US asbestos liability, as the 175-year-old company completed a ​sweeping portfolio overhaul that netted more than £3 billion ($4.01 billion).