Rotork Sees Full-Year Profit At Upper End Of Mkt. View; Finance Director Bob Slater To Retire

11/20/2009 5:40 AM ET

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Rotork Issues Interim Management Statement - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - UK-based Rotork Plc (ROR.L: News ) said Friday, in an interim management statement for the period from 1 July to 20 November 2009, that its third-quarter order intake declined 3.4% year-over-year, yet affirmed that group revenues and margins remained strong. The group expects to achieve profits for the current year at the upper end of market forecasts. Further, Rotork revealed its finance director Bob Slater intends to retire by March 2010 end and will be succeeded by Jonathan Davis.

The principal activities of the company, along with its subsidiaries, are the design, manufacture and support of actuators, systems and related products. The company operates in three business segments: controls, which is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of electric valve actuators; fluid systems, which is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of heavy duty pneumatic and hydraulic valve actuators; and gears, which is engaged in the design, manufacture and sale of gearboxes, adaption and ancillaries for the valve industry.

Rotork is expected to announce its preliminary results for the year ending 31 December 2009 on 2 March 2010.

Due to continued cost management, the group obtained savings from its supply chain, enabling mitigation of material cost increases. The company said that during the period, timing of order placements had remained challenging. As on 31 October, the order book stood at GBP 125 million.

In operational areas, Rotork Controls, the largest division, performed well overall, while Rotork Process Controls, a small business within the division, has seen order intake, revenues and profit ahead of last year. The oil and gas market focused segment, Rotork Fluid Systems, suffered from project delays. However, the strong order book at the beginning of the year had supported revenues. Rotork Gears witnessed more pricing pressures than the other two divisions, however it continues to see increased activity from its core markets, the company said.

The newly appointed Finance Director, Jonathan Davis, currently serves as Divisional Finance Director of Rotork Controls division, will assume the new role starting April 2010. Jonathan joined Rotork in 2002 as Group Financial Controller, moving to his current role in January 2008.

"Sales revenue to date and the strength of the order book support our view that we expect to achieve profits for the current year at the upper end of market forecasts. Following a period of slower order intake, certain markets and geographic areas that we serve are showing signs of increased activity, from which we expect to benefit in 2010," noted Rotork.