LONDON (Alliance News) - Fenner PLC on Thursday said trading in its Advanced Engineered Products business remained good while its Engineered Conveyor Solutions arm continued to face challenging market conditions in the first half of its financial year, and it expects earnings per share for the full year to be slightly below its expectations due to a charge for cost cutting.
Fenner said trading in the AEP arm in the first half to the end of February continued to be in line with expectations and said the division finished the half well. It expects that performance to continue in the second half.
In ECS, the company said the results for its Americas and Europe, Middle East and Africa businesses remained in line with expectations, but said that while it retains a robust market position in Australia, the results from that segment were below expectations as continued pricing pressure was exacerbated by lower activity levels.
The company expects the tough trading environment for the ECS business to continue in the second half, though it says the results should benefit from a reduced cost base.
Fenner said it has completed the necessary actions to deliver its targeted cost savings of GBP9 million and confirmed it will book an exceptional charge in its first half results related to these cost reductions.
Fenner shares fell at the open on Thursday, down 5.9% to 188.75 pence to be one of the worst performers in the FTSE All-Share.
By Sam Unsted; samunsted@alliancenews.com; @SamUAtAlliance
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