Molins performing ahead of expectations

25th Aug 2011 11:48

Engineering company Molins said its first half performance was slightly ahead of expectations, as orders picked up substantially from last year's levels.The company more than doubled its pre-tax profit to £3.8m (2010 H1: £1.7m) despite a reduction in sales for the six months to June 30.This reduction, from £40.3m for the same period last year to £38.8m, was offset by a decrease in costs, resulting in a total profit for the period of £2.4m, up from £2.7m. Dick Hunter, Chief Executive, said: "As expected, order intake in the first half of the year was significantly higher than last year. Although the phasing of deliveries resulted in slightly lower sales, underlying profits improved through a combination of favourable product mix, strong activity levels and cost reductions."Order prospects for the second half remain in line with plans set at the beginning of the year, although the board is mindful of the continuing uncertain economic conditions. With performance in the first half of the year being slightly stronger than planned, the board expects that the group will show progress in the year."The company's net funds at 30 June were £6.3m, with £0.5m worth of ordinary dividends were paid at 2.5p per share. The share price was up 8.57% to 95.00p at 12:11. NR