UK engineering group Weir slips after order intake decline, CEO change announced 

* First-quarter organic orders for group down 3%

* Minerals unit head Andrew Neilson to ​succeed ‌Jon Stanton as CEO

* Company maintains annual guidance

* Shares down 4% after falling as much as 10%

April ⁠30 (Reuters) - Weir Group reported a fall in first-quarter orders ⁠on Thursday, sending the British engineering firm's ​shares down as much as 10%, even as it reiterated its annual outlook and promoted the head of its biggest business to CEO. The company, focused heavily on services to the mining ​sector, said Chief ‌Executive Jon Stanton will step down after nearly a decade in the role and be succeeded in August by the president of its minerals division, Andrew Neilson. The update comes as global demand for critical and rare-earth minerals such as nickel and cobalt continues to ​accelerate, driven by electric vehicles, grid expansion, a renewable energy push and data-centre growth linked to ‌AI.

Since Stanton took the helm in October 2016, Weir's shares have gained about 55%, far outperforming the FTSE 100.

"Weir has gone ‌through enormous change under (Stanton's) stewardship and we are a more focused, more successful, and more profitable business today thanks to his efforts," Chair Barbara Jeremiah said.

Stanton's successor Neilson was the "obvious choice" for ​the appointment, J.P. Morgan analysts said, following his 16-year tenure at Weir, but cautioned that the news would still ‌weigh on shares along with first quarter performance.

For the quarter ended March 31, Weir reported a 3% decline in total organic order intake after similar declines at its minerals unit, which accounts ⁠for ⁠over 71% of total group revenue.

Weir shares were down 4.4% at ‌2,642 pence by 1405 GMT.

The company said some order phasing and mine disruptions in Asia-Pacific and Africa had ​affected business, but it ​was confident orders would develop "very positively" through the year, despite potential ‌impact from uncertainty linked to the Iran war.

It expects a mid-single-digit percent organic revenue growth in 2026, and a 50-basis-point expansion in operating margin.

Weir Group