(Sharecast News) - Engineering group PressureTechnologies said on Tuesday that trading continued to be in line with management expectations, with the company now in "a strong financial position" following its successful £7.5m fundraising in December.

PressureTechnologies said its Chesterfield Special Cylinders subsidiary had made "good progress" on major contracts for defence, industrial and nuclear energy customers, with momentum gathering further in the fast-developing hydrogen energy market as refuelling station contract wins of over £1.0m were locked in since December from new and established customers.

The AIM-listed group said its pipeline of hydrogen opportunities continued to grow and the visibility of increasing future demand was said to be improving through the development of deeper customer relationships, while investment in production capacity and engineering capability to support hydrogen growth, utilising fundraising proceeds, was set to commence in the second half of the year.

Over at its Precision Machined Components unit, PressureTechnologies said as expected, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the oil and gas market had forced it to reduce the divisions cost base by around 40%, while operational improvement projects were accelerated to support efficiency gains and margin improvement.

Although PressureTechnologies stated the outlook for the oil and gas market remained "uncertain", the group said it was encouraged by strengthening oil prices and steadily improving enquiry levels seen since early February.

"The group's strategy remains focused on the continued development and growth of both divisions. The board is encouraged by the progress being made and expects performance for the full year to be in line with management expectations," said PressureTechnologies.

As of 1140 GMT, PressureTechnologies shares were down 1.64% at 90.0p.