Rotork moving up a gear

20th Nov 2009 07:09

Valve actuator and gearbox maker Rotork expects this year’s profits will be at the upper end of market forecasts.Although order intake in the third quarter was down 3.4% on the levels seen a year ago, some of the markets in which the company operates are showing signs of a rise in activity.The group’s largest division, Rotork Controls, is performing well, with order intake ahead of last year except in the Rotork Process Controls, ‘a small business within the division’, where orders are below 2008 levels.The Rotork Fluid Systems, which is mainly focused on the oil and gas market, is the division of the group that has suffered most from project delays, while Rotork Gears has been under more pricing pressures than the other two divisions.At the end of October the group’s order book stood at £125m. The continued weakness of sterling remains a boon to the company.The group’s finance director, Bob Slater, is to retire from the position at the end of March next year. His position will be taken by Jonathan Davis, who is currently divisional finance director of Rotork Controls.‘We anticipate the current competitive environment will remain challenging for some time, although we are encouraged that project visibility and the number of quotations remain positive,’ the group said.