The information contained within this announcement is deemed
by the company to constitute inside information stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of
UK domestic law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act
2018. Upon the publication of this announcement via the
Regulatory Information Service, this inside information is now
considered to be in the public domain.
Castings PLC
Trading update
Castings PLC ("Castings" or "the
company"), the leading iron casting and machining group primarily
focused on the European heavy truck market, announces a trading
update in respect of the year ending 31 March 2025.
We previously reported that the
underlying demand for heavy trucks (approximately 75% of group
revenue) was down 20% on the previous year. During the third
quarter we saw demand drop further, although early indications are
that volumes are recovering somewhat during the final quarter of
the year. As a result, the underlying profitability of the
established foundry and machining businesses is expected to be
below market expectations.
In addition, the result has been
impacted by two items in the second half of the financial
year. The first is, as a direct impact of lower volumes, an
increase in power costs resulting from enforced penalties payable
in respect of forward purchased electricity volumes that were not
required. The second relates to the start-up costs and trading
losses associated with the new business in Scunthorpe.
The increased electricity costs are
not expected to impact profitability during the year ending 31
March 2026 and the Scunthorpe business is anticipated to be
profitable in the remaining months of the current year and into the
next financial year.
Taking all the above into account,
it is the board's expectation that the company's result will be
substantially below market expectations in the current
year.
Our major customers have recently
reported increasing sales orders which are expected to positively
impact Castings sales volumes early in the next financial
year.
The balance sheet remains strong,
notwithstanding significant capital investment and dividend
distributions in the year.
Castings PLC
+44 (0) 1543 374341
S J Mant, Director and Company
Secretary
Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint
Broker)
+44 (0) 20 7523 8000
Adam James
George Grainger
Zeus Capital Limited (Joint
Broker)
+44 (0) 20 3829 5000
Dominic King (Corporate
Broking)
David Foreman (Investment
Banking)
Notes for Editors
Castings PLC is a leading iron casting and machining group
based in the UK, supplying both the domestic and export markets. It
has gross foundry capacity of 70,000 tonnes p.a. and is highly
invested with the latest automation technologies. This enables high
mix production of low volume parts on a just in time basis to
provide a competitive edge. Castings has long-term relationships
with the major OEMs in its core European heavy truck market and
their platforms typically last over 10 years in production. In
addition to the commercial vehicle sector, Castings PLC also
supplies the wind power, agriculture, rail and material handling
markets. www.castings.plc.uk
