TOP NEWS: Melrose Trading At Top End Of Forecasts; Notes Uncertainty

(Alliance News) - Melrose Industries PLC on Wednesday said it is currently trading at the top end ...

Alliance News 25 November, 2020 | 8:58AM
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(Alliance News) - Melrose Industries PLC on Wednesday said it is currently trading at the top end of its expectations for 2020, but warned that short-term uncertainty remains.

Melrose shares were trading 3.4% higher at 168.65 in morning trade in London, making the stock the best performer in the FTSE 100 on Wednesday.

The FTSE 100-listed company, which specialises in buying and improving underperforming businesses, said its performance in the four months to the end of October reflected a faster than expected recovery in automotive markets, the continued strong performance in Nortek Air Management, and "more challenging" market conditions in Aerospace.

Melrose said Aerospace did not see a recovery in its trading conditions with sales declining by 37% in the period from July 1 to October 31 compared to the same period last year.

More positively, the company said the benefits of restructuring and cost saving actions are starting to feed through and the company expects the business broadly to break even for the full year.

Nortek Air Management, meanwhile, has continued to trade well in the four months to the end of October, with revenue growth of 13% year-on-year and nearly 3 percentage points of operating margin improvement.

The business has continued to grow despite the challenging macro conditions seen since mid-March due to the success of its new technologies, strong market positioning, adept operational and supply chain management, and a rebounding residential housing construction market.

Finally, Automotive and Powder Metallurgy saw an improvement in trading during the four months to October 31, with Automotive revenue down 3% and Powder Metallurgy 7% lower compared with the same period last year.

Other Industrial is trading in line with expectations, Melrose said.

"Trading in the period has been encouraging in a number of our end markets and we are seeing the benefits of actions taken by management in our businesses' performance," said Chair Justin Dowley.

"While short-term uncertainty remains, we are confident that our businesses can substantially improve their margins from today over the medium-term even without the need for full end market recovery," added Dowley.

By Evelina Grecenko; evelinagrecenko@alliancenews.com

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security Name Price Change (%) Morningstar
Rating
Melrose Industries PLC 625.20 GBX -1.01 -

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