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(Alliance News) - Bodycote PLC on Tuesday dropped its revenue guidance for 2021, blaming the downgrade on lower automotive sales.
Automotive revenue declined 6% in the four-month period from July 1 to October 31, with the 10% decline in car and light trucks more than offsetting good growth in heavy trucks and buses.
The Macclesfield, England-based pressing and coatings specialist attributed the drop to supply chain bottlenecks in the automotive industry.
"Whilst the decline is greater than we had anticipated, it has been concentrated almost entirely in our North American and Mexican businesses, driven by automotive original equipment manufacturer supply chain shortages," Bodycote explained. "Underlying consumer automotive demand remains strong and therefore we believe that this issue is transitory in nature. As a result, we would expect our revenues to recover and return to the previous growth trajectory in due course."
Group revenue in the four months rose 3% annually to GBP200.1 million while revenue in the 10-month period grew 3% year-on-year to GBP513.0 million. Civil aerospace revenue increased 25% annually in the four months to the end of October.
Looking further ahead, Boycote said: "Beyond the short term, the outlook for the business is positive as we anticipate a stronger automotive market in due course, continued good performance in our general industrial business, and accelerating growth in civil aerospace revenues."
Shares in Bodycote were up 2.1% in London on Tuesday at 854.00 pence.
By Will Paige; willpaige@alliancenews.com
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