Currencies help drive Rotork first quarter revenues

Favourable exchange rates and contributions from acquisitions helped drive a 0.7% increase in first quarter revenues at valve maker Rotork.

In a separate announcement, Rotork also said it was buying US outfit Mastergear from Regal Beloit Corporation for $25m on a cash-free, debt-free basis.

Order intake rose 2.5% during the period. Currencies contributed 3.1% to order intake and 3.0% to revenue, with acquisitions contributing 8.4% to order intake and 9.2% to revenue, Rotork said.

On an organic constant currency basis, order intake and revenue declined by 9.0% and 11.5% respectively. The order book at 3 April 2016 was £189.3m, 13.9% higher on the previous quarter.

“Oil and gas remained challenging, with weakness evident in the midstream sector. Power was impacted by continued weakness in China. There was good activity in the water and industrial markets. Geographically, Latin America, parts of North America and India remained subdued,” the company said.

“The integration of the businesses we acquired last year is going well, and our international sales network is leveraging the new product opportunities. We remain well placed internationally to benefit from opportunities in our key markets.”