Bodycote lifts first quarter revenue

24th Apr 2013 07:17

Heat treatment firm Bodycote lifted revenue by nearly four per cent in the three months ended March 31st and still expects modest progress during the remainder of the year.Revenue during the first quarter rose 3.9% to £156.5m from the same period last year or 2.9% at constant exchange rates and was in line with company expectations.Acquisitions made in 2012 contributed 8.5% or £12.8m to group revenue, while organic revenue, at constant exchange rates, fell by 5.6% or £8.5m compared to the first quarter of 2012. Aerospace, Defence & Energy revenue rose 6.5% from the same quarter in 2012 although organic revenue was lower by 0.5%.Bodycote saw growth at its offshore oil and gas business but it did not completely offset weaker demand for gas exploration and production in North America, it explained. Overall, organic revenue in Oil & Gas was down by 5.1% but when acquisitions are included, revenue was ahead 2.3%. Bodycote said the Industrial Gas Turbine market continued to improve and revenue jumped 17.5% from last year, of which 11.2% was organic.Revenue at its Automotive & General Industrial business was up 2.4% or 1.4% at constant exchange rates. Within this sector, the anticipated weak demand from the Heavy Truck sector together with some softness in General Industrial, however, more than offset the gains from Car and Light Truck.Net debt as at March 31st 2013 increased to £35.6m compared to £34.2m at December 31st 2012. Bodycote noted, "Given the group's performance in the first quarter of 2013, the board's expectation for modest progress in 2013 is unchanged from the time of the 2012 annual results' announcement in February."CJ