LONDON (ShareCast) - Investors in Renew got a welcome update at Wednesday's annual general meeting (AGM) after its Chairman opened with the news that first quarter trading had been 'well ahead' of the comparative position last year.

Roy Harrison told shareholders of the engineering services and specialist building firm that first quarter trading had been "strong", and that this was expected to continue through the second quarter of the financial year.

As a result, the full year results are expected to be "much more" evenly weighted between first and second half than has previously been the case.

Discussing the group's divisional performance, Harrison said: "In Specialist Engineering, a strong performance has been seen in all markets, but particularly so in Infrastructure where our Rail business has been experiencing record levels of activity.

"In Specialist Building, our businesses in High Quality Residential and New Build Affordable Housing have both performed in line with expectations and potential future work lists continue to offer excellent opportunities."

He also said that within the Environmental market, both its Lewis and Seymour water businesses had been performing ahead of expectations, while within Energy, Nuclear revenue had been at record levels.

At the end of December the group's order book was up 27% year-on-year to £433m, driven by a 25% rise in the Engineering Services order book to £306m.

Cash generation in the first quarter was also described as "strong", enabling the company to "look forward with confidence to further profitable growth".

The update prompted a 10% rise in the share price to 198.60p.

NR

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