20th Nov 2015 07:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Melrose Industries PLC on Friday said sales for its recently-sold Elster Group business rose in the first ten months of 2015, while sales for its Brush business continued to slump.
The FTSE 250-listed group said sales for Elster, the energy-metering business it has sold to US conglomerate Honeywell Inc for GBP3.3 billion in cash, saw sales rise 14% in constant currencies in the ten months to the end of October.
Melrose said the sale of the business to Honeywell is set to close in the first quarter of 2016.
Brush, its electricity generation unit and its only remaining business following the Elster sale, saw sales fall 26% in constant currencies in the first ten months, due to tough market conditions. This has improved somewhat in the four months to the end of October, when revenue fell by only 17%.
Trading at Brush was in line with Melrose's expectations, albeit at the lower end of its forecasts.
The group said it is optimistic it will identify a new industrial sector acquisition given the recent downturn in the sector. Melrose operates a "buy, improve, sell" model, under which it acquires underperforming companies, returns them to health, and then sells them on. Following the sale of Elster, it is now looking for another acquisition.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
Copyright 2015 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
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