Hardide upbeat on oil and gas upturn

Hardide’s chairman updated shareholders on the company’s progress on Monday, as they gathered late in the morning for its annual general meeting.

The AIM-traded company was starting to see an upturn in activity from its oil and gas customers, Robert Goddard claimed, following the recent OPEC deal on cutting output, which raised the oil price and resulted in an increasing number of North American drilling rigs being brought back into production.

“Our new development with a major producer of hydraulic fracturing tools is progressing well and we have seen a recent increase in demand from this customer as well as from our more established customers,” he explained.

“We are also seeing regular demand from the manufacturer of advanced baggage-scanners where our components are integral to the machine's functionality.”

Goddard said the company’s aerospace developments were progressing to plan, with multiple applications now in test programmes across a range of customers.

A number of high-volume components were currently in discussion with Airbus, and the board expected to be able to provide more news on that over the coming months.

“The new Hardide facility in the US is producing consistently-excellent product and for our high-volume North American customers.

“The board is monitoring closely developments in its target markets and remains confident about the medium- and long-term prospects for the company.”

Half year results were expected to be published on 16 May, Goddard said, when there would be a further update on trading.