Weir profits boosted by higher equipment orders

Full year pre-tax profits at engineering group Weir rose 22% to £310m as orders increased 15% on a like-for-like basis to £2.5bn.

The company said minerals orders grew 14% with aftermarket orders exceeding £1bn for the first time.

Weir on Monday sold its flow control arm to private equity investment firm First Reserve for £275m as it refocused its portfolio of operations.

Original equipment order growth accelerated with 30% growth in the fourth quarter while operating margins of 17.7% were in line with expectations at this growth stage in the mining cycle, Weir said.

The company said it expected its mining and infrastructure markets to “continue to benefit from positive industry fundamentals with oil and gas activity to improve modestly from current levels”.

It added that if market and macro-economic conditions remained supportive, the group should deliver “another year of good constant currency revenue and profit growth”.

Operating profit rose 18% to £348m, while revenue was up 23% to £2.45bn. The dividend was increased 5% to 46.2p a share.