25th Oct 2013 09:20
LONDON (Alliance News) - Vesuvius PLC Friday said trading in the third quarter was in line with management expectations, and said full-year trading will be in line with its current outlook.
The molten metal flow engineer said there has been no material change to its financial position since the release of its half-year results, and it balance sheet remains robust.
Activity levels were generally stable, Vesuvius said, with underlying steel market conditions similar to the second quarter.
Vesuvius said that it continues to successfully implement a number of actions to help offset weakness in end-market demand, including its strategy to streamline its portfolio and focus on higher-value product lines, which it said has helped improve its trading margins.
Vesuvius said that regional steel production trends continue to be mixed, with continued weakness in Europe and a flat market in North America, offset by stronger growth in the Middle East and China.
It said that, as expected, steel production volumes were lower than in the second quarter, due to customer shutdowns over the summer months. It said that steel trading activity was higher than in the same period last year, but lower than in the second quarter of this year.
The group said that despite some improvement in the truck and light-vehicle markets, the weakness of the global mining and North American railroad sectors prevented an overall recovery in the foundry casting market to date.
Vesuvius said that although trading activity was marginally below last year, operational efficiency and a reduced cost base helped trading in a weaker market.
The group said that GBP30 million of the proceeds from the sale of its precious-metals processing division have been returned to shareholders, with the rest of the proceeds being used to reduce its net borrowings.
Shares in Vesuvius were down 0.4% to 488.80 pence per share Friday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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