Senior ups first half guidance

29th Jun 2011 08:09

Shares in Senior jumped 8% on Wednesday morning after the group said it expects pre-tax profit for the six months ended 30 June to be ahead of previous expectations, driven by the recovery in the truck markets and increased production in its Aerospace Division.The group - which provides engineered products for the aerospace, defence, land vehicle and energy markets - said that first half revenues will be "marginally higher than anticipated", helped partly by a stronger global truck market, benefiting Senior's North American and German Flexonics operations. Senior's Aerospace Division is also trading well as a result of the acquisition of Damar Aerosystems in March and increased demand for the C130J military transport aircraft and the Boeing 787. First half operating margins are expected to be ahead of those last year."The large commercial aerospace industry is anticipated to be strong for a number of years with Boeing and Airbus increasing build rates and the Boeing 787 due to be delivered to customers starting in the third quarter of this year," Senior said.However, the £15.3m Damar acquisition means that net debt will be slightly higher than the £63.7m level reported at the end of 2010.While demand has been broadly in line with expectations, the group highlighted that the European car market has been slightly weaker."Whilst the macro economic outlook remains uncertain, the Group's industrial businesses are well positioned to benefit from growth in their end markets when this occurs."BC