Richard ReedUK industrial valve manufacturer Rotork has announced an 11.8% increase in orders in the third quarter of 2017 and a 5.1% increase in revenue.
Cumulative orders in the year to 29 October were up 15.3% on the comparable period the previous year, with an 8.9% increase in revenue. The order book at 29 October stood at £219.4m, 21.4% higher than at 31 December 2016.
The company’s trading update reported that growth was a continuation of the slightly more favourable market trends seen during the first half of the year.
“We saw good progress across the water, power and industrial process markets. Geographically we saw growth in the Middle East, parts of Asia, North America and Europe while Latin America remained subdued,” it said.
‘Committed to boosting margins’
The company said it was committed to returning Rotork to “the higher levels of organic growth and margins previously delivered by the group”. It will significantly increase investment in new products and service, funded primarily by a reshaping of our sales and operating infrastructure, while the process to appoint a new chief executive is progressing.
“Simultaneously, working with external consultants, we are engaged in a series of reviews, to examine our routes to market, innovation funnel, operations footprint, supply chain, talent development and IT systems,” it said.
“We expect this work to yield a number of options in support of our growth and margin objectives, and to contribute significantly to the plans formulated by the new chief executive during the course of next year. Some initial opportunities are beginning to emerge, which we are already pursuing.”