Rotork Says Third-Quarter Revenue Up 13% As Orders Increase

LONDON (Alliance News) - Industrial valve and flow control company Rotork PLC said Friday third quarter revenue was up 13% on last year, reflecting a strong performance across the business.

In an interim management statement for the period July 1 to November 14, the company said it had benefited from currency movements which had been favourable throughout the year. However, that reversed in recent weeks, as sterling strengthened against other major currencies.

Rotork said this "significantly reduced the tailwind that had been anticipated."

The effect of currency for the year to date is still positive overall, Rotork said, adding 2.5% to revenue.

The order book at October 27 was GBP204.8 million, 7.3% higher than at the same point last year.

Rotork Controls, the electric valve actuator division, reported a 1.7% increase in order intake on last year boosted by strong demand in Asia and North America.

An actuator is a type of motor for moving or controlling a mechanism or system.

Fluid Systems, which makes fluid power-valve actuators, saw growth with cumulative intake 13% ahead of last year. Order intake in the third quarter was broadly the same as 2012, which Rotork said reflected the "very strong performance" in this period last year.

Rotork Instruments which manufactures specialist products for flow control saw cumulative order intake up 63% compared with 2012, while the cumulative order intake at the gears divisions was broadly similar to last year.

Rotork Gears makes valve gearboxes and accessories

Net cash balances stood at GBP33.3 million at October 27.

Looking ahead Rotork predicted that the fourth quarter will be the strongest quarter in terms of revenue, as projects are delivered out of the existing order book.

The stock was trading at 2,848.00 pence Friday morning, down 46.00 pence or 1.6%, making it one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250.

By Anthony Tshibangu; anthonytshibangu@alliancenews.com; @AnthonyAllNews

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