Automotive, aerospace carry GKN through 2015

Steady sailing was the theme of the year at GKN, with the company reporting growth in sales and earnings across most of its operations on Tuesday.

Sales at the FTSE 100 firm increased 4% through the year to 31 December to £7.23bn on a reported basis, from £6.98bn.

On a management basis it increased 3% to £7.69bn, with the board citing good growth in Automotive and Aerospace, though Land Systems was down in what it called a tough market.

The company's trading margin remained unchanged at 9.2%, excluding the recently-acquired Fokker Technologies, with a 10.9% increase in reported profit before tax to £245m, from £221m.

Profit before tax increased marginally on a management basis to £603m, from £601m.

"GKN continued to make progress in 2015 and delivered on our expectations," said GKN chief executive Nigel Stein.

"We performed well against our key markets, overcoming some demand weakness and demonstrating once again the strength of our businesses, strong market positions and leading technology," he added.

Stein said highlights of the year were GKN Aerospace's acquisition of Fokker Technologies, strong market-beating growth by GKN Driveline and good margin advances by GKN Powder Metallurgy.

"Looking forward, we expect 2016 to be a year of good growth, helped by the contribution from Fokker," he concluded.

Reported earnings per share increased 15% to 11.8p, though on a management basis it dipped 4% to 27.8p as a result of the costs of the Fokker acquisition, which was completed on 28 October.

At the end of the period, GKN had net debt of £769m, which was £145m higher than the prior year, also due to the the Fokker acquisition.

The company's board confirmed the total dividend was rising 4% to 8.7p per share, from 8.4p a year earlier.