Cape confident on annual targets, warns about volatility

Industrial services provider Cape remained confident of meeting its annual expectations after putting in a solid performance in the first quarter.

The London-listed company said its overall trading had been in line with expectations, although the delay of key UK maintenance contracts resulted in a sluggish order intake, which led to an 8% decline from the previous quarter in the value of the order book to £686m.

After the end of the quarter, Cape signed contracts in the UK with oil giants ExxonMobil and BP, which "materially" increased its order book.

However, the group warned that short-term outlook remained mixed, although it expected demand for its services to increase in the long term, mainly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Cape shares were down 3.91% to 257.52p at 11:47 on Tuesday.