22nd Oct 2015 06:36
LONDON (Alliance News) - Engineer GKN PLC on Thursday said its sales in the first nine months edged higher but noted that its trading environment has shown signs of softening in the final quarter of the year.
The FTSE 100-listed company, which makes automotive and aerospace components and systems, said its sales for the nine months to the end of September were GBP5.68 billion, with a currency boost of GBP29.0 million offset by a GBP54.0 million decline due to disposals.
Sales in GKN's two largest businesses, Aerospace and Driveline, were both higher in the period, with the aerospace unit seeing strong commercial sales which offset declining military revenue. Driveline sales were pushed higher by a good performance in Europe, with only modest sales rises in the Americas and Asia and the company forecasting no growth from China in the fourth quarter.
GKN said its Powder Metallurgy sales were slightly lower while Land Systems sales fell substantially, mainly due to weak demand for agricultural equipment.
Moving into the fourth quarter, GKN said it expects growth to soften in its key markets, with a 1.0% decline in the automotive market forecast for the last three months, along with continued declines in the military aerospace and agricultural equipment markets. Still, GKN expects its results to show growth for the full year, notwithstanding the tougher economic conditions and any costs it will book on the acquisition of Dutch firm Fokker Technologies NV.
"We have maintained our progress reporting 2% organic growth, in spite of the tougher economic environment. We continue to expect 2015 to be a year of further growth," said GKN Chief Executive Nigel Stein.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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