GKN plc reports that management sales for the three months ended 31 March 2016 were £2,179 million, a 12% increase over the Q1 2015 figure of £1,943 million.
‘Our automotive businesses continue to outperform the market and our aerospace business has traded in line with our expectations, against a strong comparative period,’ the company said. Land Systems’ markets remain tough.
GKN Powder Metallurgy sales were £246 million, compared to the Q1 figure of £244 million. Organic sales were 2% lower due to the direct pass through of lower raw material prices which also had the effect of improving margins slightly. Excluding the raw material impact, sales growth was above the market, led by Asia.
GKN Aerospace sales in the first quarter were £767 million, compared to £589 million in Q1 2015, in line with expectations. GKN Aerospace Fokker, acquired on 28 October 2015, added £159 million of sales.
GKN Driveline delivered a good first quarter result with sales increasing 7% to £976 million compared to £912 million in the same period of the previous year. Organic sales increased 4% against global industry production rates that were up 1% in the quarter. External forecasts continue to expect full year global auto production to increase by 3%.
Overall performance
‘Our overall performance in the first quarter was in line with our expectations,’ said Nigel Stein, chief executive, GKN plc. ‘With end markets delivering as forecast and customers continuing to award us good levels of new and repeat business, we expect to grow in 2016 and beyond, helped by the contribution from Fokker, whose performance and integration is on track.’
This story uses material from GKN, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
