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LONDON (Alliance News) - Castings and engineering group Chamberlin PLC said trading in the first half of its financial year met its expectations, as it announced the closure of its foundry in Leicester.
The company said the Leicester site, which makes mid-size castings, has faced subdued demand and, while cost cutting measures have been put in place, it has now taken the decision to cease production from the foundry. The wind down of the Leicester site is set to complete by the end of 2016 and will not impact current market forecasts for Chamberlin in the financial year to the end of March 2017.
Chamberlin said trading in the remainder of the business was in line with its expectations in the half-year to the end of September. It added the investment made in a new machining facility in Walsall is progressing well and the benefits of that investment on sales should flow through early in 2017.
Chamberlin said it remains confident on its outlook, underpinned by the investments made in new machining capacity, plus growth in its Exidor architectural ironmongery and Petrel specialist lighting businesses.
The group will publish interim results on November 29.
Shares in Chamberlin were down 4.3% to 64.10 pence on Monday.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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