24th May 2019 08:17
LONDON (Alliance News) - Bodycote PLC said Friday it has seen seen excellent growth in civil aerospace revenue in the first four months of 2019, offset by anticipated weakness in automotive and general industrial revenue against strong comparatives.
Bodycote supplies heat treatments, metal joining, hot isostatic pressing and coatings services.
The FTSE 250 firm said the full-year outlook for civil aerospace remains strong, and revenue growth for Specialist Technologies is also expected to be good. Year-on-year growth in automotive division is expected to strengthen due to easing comparatives in the second half and provided economic conditions do not deteriorate.
Overall, Bodycote said expectations for all of 2019 remain unchanged.
For the four months to the end of April, the company recorded 1% year-on-year growth in reported revenue to GBP245 million, though this was flat at constant currency.
Aerospace & Defence revenue grew 15% due to the continuation of the strong growth trend seen through the second half of last year. Automotive revenue fell 4%, with car & light truck revenue hurt by lower production volumes, particularly in western Europe.
General industrial revenue was 6% lower year-on-year, with good growth in emerging markets more than offset by weakness in the developed markets. Energy revenue was broadly flat year-on-year in the four months.
Bodycote said it is working with tax advisers to understand implications of an April ruling by the European Commission that certain tax exemptions offered by the UK government constituted state aid and should be recovered. The company expected maximum potential liability of GBP20 million in relation to the EC state aid probe.
The company's cash position at April 30 was GBP31 million, down from GBP36 million on December 31.
Shares in Bodycote were 0.3% lower in London early Friday at 772.50 pence each.
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