Rotork optimistic after record first half

2nd Aug 2011 10:07

Shares in FTSE 250 engineering group Rotork jumped by over a tenth on Tuesday morning after record revenue in the six months ended 30 June led the firm to raise its expectations for the full year.The company, which makes valves for the oil and gas, power and water industries, said that revenue grew by 8.7% from £183.5m to £199.4m, while the order intake was up by 22.5% in the period, with each division seeing record levels.Pre-tax profit increased 4.5% from £47.5m to £49.6m, while earnings per share rose from 38.8p to 40.9p."Strong order intake during the first six months, a record order book and ongoing activity levels in our end markets mean that we expect to achieve full year revenue materially ahead of our prior expectations," said chief executive Peter France.The strong results enabled the firm to hike its interim dividend by 13.7%, from 12.75p to 14.50p per share, and announce an additional dividend of 11.5p per share.Shares were 10.20% higher at 1,728p at 10:10.BC