By Kari Williamson
Nigel Stein, CEO, says: “GKN has made an excellent start to the year with sales up 17% and margin improvement in all four divisions. Last year's acquisitions, Gertrag Driveline Products and Stromag, have been successfully integrated an both made a strong contribution.
“Despite some macro-economic uncertainty, we expect 2012 to be a year of goo progress for GKN based on our market leadership positions, advanced technology and extensive global foot-print.”
GKN was partially lifted by the 4% growth in global light vehicle production during the quarter to 20.4m vehicles Japanese automotive production grew 49%, North American 15% and Indian 5%. This more than offset the 10% decline in Brazil, 8% in Europe and 4% decline in China.
Powder Metallurgy up 9%
GKN's Powder Metallurgy division saw a 9% increase in sales to £236m, driven by the growth in the North American automotive production and new programmes in the division.
Sales by segment
- Driveline: £847m, +26%
- Aerospace: £370m, +5%
- Land Systems: £264m, +20%
- Powder Metallurgy: £236m, +9%
