Senior finishes year on a high, expects one-off US tax benefit

Senior, the aerospace and defence engineer, said a good performance in November and December and a benefit from US tax changes will see earnings come in higher than expected.

Trading was "slightly" ahead of management's expectations for the calendar year and President Donald Trump's corporate tax cut are anticipated to provide the FTSE 250 company with an exceptional non-cash tax credit as a result of the revaluation of US net deferred tax liabilities.

This will reduce the effective tax rate for the year to 17.5%, down from the 19% that had been expected, though it is likely to revert back to that level this year.

As a result of the two beneficial factors, adjusted earnings per share, which will be announced on 26 February, should be "proportionately ahead of previous expectations".

This follows Senior's announcement in November that adjusted profit before tax would be slightly ahead of forecasts and that, from 2018 and beyond, further progress was expected as aerospace production programmes ramp up and markets recover for its Flexonics arm.