Results round-up

Bodycote reported in-line trading for the first four months of the year, with revenues up in all divisions.

In a trading update for 1 January to the end of April, the company said group revenue rose 18% from the same period a year ago to £227m, or 7.1% at constant exchange rates, while like-for-like revenues were 3.9% higher.

In the Aerospace, Defence & Energy division revenues were up 10.8% or 0.6% at constant exchange rates, while Automotive & General Industrial business revenues rose 23.2%, or 11.8% at CER.

In Civil Aviation, LFL revenues were up 3.8% year-on-year at CER, as weak revenues from the defence sector and lower revenues from the oil and gas sector offset good growth in Western Europe. Meanwhile, car and light truck revenues increased by 7.9%, with strong growth in Europe and emerging markets.

The company had net cash of £10.6m as at 30 April compared to £1.1m at the end of December last year.

Bodycote said its performance in the first four months of the year has been "robust" and in line with the board's expectations. As a result, its outlook for the year as a whole is unchanged.

Pub group Mitchells & Butlers reported a drop in profit for the 28 weeks to 8 April despite a rise in sales as it pointed to increased costs and exchange rate movements.

Profit before tax fell to £75m from £83m in the first half of 2016, despite total revenue nudging up to £1.12bn from £1.1bn.

Meanwhile, like-for-like sales were up 1.6% at the half year and 1.9% higher in the first 33 weeks of the year.

Adjusted earnings per share slipped to 15.2p from 15.7p and the company declared an interim dividend of 2.5p, in line with the previous year.

Capital expenditure rose to £93m from £88m, including six new site openings and 172 conversions and remodels. M&B had cash flow of £24m versus £34m the year before and net debt fell to £1.83bn from £1.86bn.

Chief executive Phil Urban said: "During the half year we have generated sustained sales growth, whilst consistently outperforming the market. This comes from the good progress we have made in our three priority areas: building a more balanced business; instilling a more commercial culture; and driving an innovation agenda.

"As previously announced, margins have been adversely impacted by increased costs, most notably from wage inflation, property costs and exchange rate movements. In order to partially mitigate these costs we have been working hard to encourage our guests to trade up and increase spend per head for a more premium experience whilst challenging our General Managers to run their businesses as cost effectively as possible."