Date: Wednesday 25 Feb 2015
LONDON (ShareCast) - Shares in component manufacturer for the medical, energy, industrial and aerospace sectors Avingtrans fell 9.5% on Wednesday due to forecasts of aerospace customer reductions and the decline of oil prices.
Revenues in the group dropped 14% to £27.5m during the first half of the year as the slump in oil prices affected its energy and medical division.
Its aerospace division was affected by the reduction of customer volumes, driving profits down during the period. Chairman Roger McDowell said the oil sector forecast "can't get materially any worse for us, so we anticipate an improved result in the second half".
Profits before tax fell sharply by 91% to £259m, driving earnings per share to drop from 10.7p to 0.8p.
Cash and equivalents also declined significantly from £1.74m to a negative balance of £1.2m.
The group issued a profit warning in November, saying it would be hit by a number of short-term issues across its divisions.
Since then, Avingtrans has taken restructuring actions and says to have a plan to relocate the manufacturing facility at Aldridge to Chatteris. The Aldridge facility will be sold in a bid to try to improve its cash position.
Solid underwriting and investment performances saw insurer and takeover target Brit post a 39.7% increase in annual profit.
Profit after tax rose to £139m, while gross written premiums advanced 9.8% to £1.3bn, a 15% increase at constant exchange rates.
The firm also registered a 38.4% increase in its investment return to £75.7m, which represented a return of 2.9%.
The group declared a final dividend of 12.5 pence per share plus a special dividend of 12.5 pence, bringing total dividend for year, including its interim payout, to 31.25 pence.
Earlier this month, Brit recommended a cash takeover offer from Canadian group Fairfax, which said it would buy the insurer for $1.88bn (£1.21bn).
