Renold reports mixed results for first half of trading year

UK-based power transmission products manufacturer Renold posted a mixed set of results on Tuesday, increasing group revenue in the first half of trading while watching its operating profits slide.

Revenues increased 8% to £95.4m for the six months leading to 30 September after consolidating the firm's UK torque couplings business delivered Renold an improved performance overall.

However, operating profit slipped from £7.6m in 2016 to £6m twelve months later as the group's chain division was hit with higher raw material costs and machine breakdowns.

Renold said its overall profit was "disappointing", but noted that strong progress had been made towards meeting the goals set out in its STEP 2020 strategic plan.

Robert Purcell, chief executive, said, "Whilst the first half of the year was a disappointing period for profit delivery, the issues in Chain are being resolved, and we are seeing distinct signs of improvement in our end markets."

"We continue to believe that our STEP 2020 strategy is the right path to deliver a more robust, higher margin business. We are confident of delivering improved performance in the second half," he added.

Basic earnings per share came in at 0.8p, a slight decline from the 0.9p Renold posted a year earlier.

As of 1400 GMT, shares had grown 2.14% to 47.75p.