Weir gets late boost but still cautious

12th Jan 2010 08:06

Engineer Weir now expects underlying profits for 2009 to come in higher than market forecasts at around £185m after a good performance in the final quarter, but it remains very cautious over the outlook for 2010."While the group enters 2010 in a strong position, with some positive emerging trends across our principal end markets, the lower opening order book and uncertainty over speed of recovery means that it remains too early to call any significant upside to the 2010 outlook," Weir said. Market estimates for 2009 had been in the range of £151.6m to £177.1m, but Weir says benefits of its cost cutting programme cost base and favourable volumes at Weir SPM, partly offset by an increased interest charge helped the results. Favourable foreign currency translation also boosted revenues and profits. Order input in the final quarter was broadly in line with the third quarter and for the 53 week period to the year-end was 18% lower than the prior year, compared to 22% lower for the 39 week period.