Weir profit fall beats forecast
FTSE 100-listed engineering firm Weir Group yesterday posted a smaller than expected fall in first-half profit and said the continued recovery of the US energy market should help it meet full-year forecasts.
Pre-tax profits declined by 14 per cent to £193m and revenue fell 10 per cent to £1.19bn over the period.
“We anticipate good sequential revenue and profit growth in the second half, assuming a continued recovery in upstream oil and gas and no further deterioration, or project delays, in our mining end markets,” said chief executive Keith Cochrane.
“As a result, we remain on track to meet our full year expectations and continue to expect to deliver low single digit revenue growth and broadly stable margins on 2012.” Shares closed 4.2 per cent higher.