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Bodycote - a FTSE 250-listed metal processing company - proposed a
In 2017, pretax profit expanded 27% to
Bodycote's largest Automotive & General Industry unit saw revenue grow 19% to
Aerospace, Defence & Energy revenue grew 8.9% to
"2017 has once again demonstrated the quality of Bodycote's business," Bodycote Chief Executive Officer Stephen Harris said. "Strong growth was achieved through contributions from contract wins on automotive and aerospace programmes, excellent growth in Emerging Markets (where our investments are yielding good returns), and broad-based growth across the general industrial sectors, an element of which was due to some customer restocking."
"The group's revenue growth, combined with continued discipline on costs, helped lift headline operating profit by 24%," Harris added. "Return on sales increased to 18.0% from 16.6%."
"To ensure that the business continues to deliver good results, we will continue to focus on efficiency, maintaining price discipline in light of increasing inflation across many economies, and the execution of our successful strategy," Harris continued.
"Our business, by its nature, has limited forward visibility, but we have entered the year with good momentum," Harris concluded. "Accordingly, and in spite of the foreign exchange headwind at current exchange rates, 2018 has started in line with our expectations."
Shares in Bodycote were 3.8% higher at
