Avingtrans drops on half-year results

AIM-listed engineers Avingtrans (LON:AVG) watched its shares plunge by 10.79% to 281p (as of 14:45 GMT) despite revenue for the half year ended 30th November rising by 15%. Gross margins also improved, but pre-tax profits were hit by difficulties at the Energy Steel and Booth divisions.

Chairman Robert McDowell commented: “Another solid period of progress saw the group meeting expectations. The former Hayward Tyler Group (“HTG”) businesses are now fully integrated into Avingtrans and continuing to improve overall, under the investment and development phase of our PIE strategy. In due course, this will enable us to fully realise the underlying value of the Hayward Tyler and Peter Brotherhood businesses. We continue to make good progress with new orders – especially in nuclear. Since their acquisition in June 2019, both Booth Industries and Energy Steel have responded to our well-honed PIE process and recovery is underway. The budding medical division has made good progress in the development of new MRI and NMR products.”

“Each year brings fresh challenges and opportunities, we remain robust and confident about our prospects in both the Energy and Medical sectors. The positive crop of orders underpins our on-going confidence in the outlook“.