The first quarter saw a gradual improvement in overall levels of activity from the fourth quarter. Order intake (on an organic constant currency basis, “OCC”) was modestly ahead of the fourth quarter, though as anticipated was down on the 2018 comparator period which included several large greenfield orders, principally from the Downstream Oil & Gas end user market.
Our Growth Acceleration Programme continues on track with progress across all four pillars. Our lean/continuous improvement rollout has started encouragingly. Our phased transition to a market segment orientation commences in the second quarter with China, Japan and South Korea.
Rotork continues to be highly cash generative with a strong balance sheet and net cash of £46.5m at 31 March 2019 (£43.6m at 31 December 2018).
Whilst we remain mindful of macroeconomic uncertainty we continue to expect to deliver modest sales growth on an OCC basis in 2019, with lower year on year sales in the first half reflecting the strong comparator period, and full year margins to show progress on 2018.
Rotork will publish 2019 half-year results on Tuesday 6 August 2019.