29th Jul 2021 10:46
(Alliance News) - Weir Group PLC on Thursday resumed its dividend for the first half of 2021, amid a rise in profit on reduced costs and higher orders.
For the six months ended June 30, the Glasgow-based engineering firm posted a pretax profit of GBP102 million, up 31% from GBP78 million the same period a year prior, due to the lack of exceptional costs incurred in the first half of 2020, including restructuring and acquisition expenses.
On an adjusted basis, pretax profit still rose 6% to GBP121 million from GBP114 million a year prior.
Revenue however dropped 1% year-on-year to GBP900 million from GBP910 million. On a constant currency basis, revenue was up 3%, driven by positive mining trends within its Minerals division.
Total orders for the period rose 17% to GBP1.09 billion from GBP934 million. The improvement was attributed to higher demand for more sustainable mining products and services, as well as a recovery in infrastructure markets in North America and Europe which benefited ESCO, a division of Weir which provides mining equipment and tools.
Weir resumed its interim dividend at 11.5 pence per share due to a stronger balance sheet and high confidence, after suspending it for the same period a year before.
"We've had a good start to the year with excellent execution across the business delivering a strong performance despite ongoing challenges due to the Covid pandemic. The order momentum we are seeing reflects demand for recurring aftermarket consumables returning to pre-Covid levels and growing adoption of our more sustainable mining technologies that increase customer efficiency while reducing energy, water and waste," said Chief Executive Jon Stanton.
"Looking to the full year, we continue to expect to deliver growth in constant currency profits and margins in line with our, and current market expectations".
Shares in Weir Group were down 2.9% at 1,838.00 pence on Thursday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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