Fenner PLC Share News (FENR)

(ShareCast News) - Fenner, a British manufacturer of industrial belting and other polymer based products, performed better than expected in the face of challenging market conditions.Chief executive Mark Abrahams said: "The group's results were ahead of our expectations at the time of the Annual General Meeting in January 2016, assisted by currency. Management actions have started to outweigh market pressures."The group's revenue for the year ended 31 August 2016 fell to £572.5m from £666.7m and loss before tax rose to £30.3m from £5.3m.Operating cash flow fell to £62.2m from £69.2m leading to year-end net debt of £150m.The group reported an improved performance in the second half by both its Advanced engineered products (AEP) and Engineered Conveyor solutions (ECS) divisions.Oil and gas businesses increased shares in difficult markets with AEP medical businesses achieving an improved result.ECS North America restructuring is delivering to plan with further progress in Australia.Looking ahead Abrahams said: "We now anticipate that the outcome for the current year will be modestly ahead of our previous expectations. In addition, the Group is experiencing a tailwind from the translation of overseas earnings into sterling, with the year-on-year impact on underlying operating profit from currency movements estimated to be £4m based on exchange rates prevailing during the early part of the new financial year"Underlying earnings per share fell from 15.5p to 8.4p and dividend per share fell to 3p from 12p.The share price rose 12.73% to 265.75p at 1500 GMT on Wednesday.