GKN profits soar after aerospace boost

Engineering group GKN today more than doubled pre-tax profits after its aerospace division overcame delays to the Airbus superjumbo programme.

With GKN benefiting from work on the US Joint Strike Fighter project and the new Boeing 787, underlying pre-tax profits at the firm soared to £182m (€270.8m) for 2006, up from £73m (€108.6m) the previous year.

Including acquisition costs, pre-tax profits rose 8% to £221m (€328.7m), beating consensus forecasts of £212m (€315.4m), on flat sales of £3.65bn (€5.4bn). Shares were up 8% following the results announcement.

The group’s aerospace division, which supplies airframes, components and engineering services to manufacturers, saw an 11% increase in sales and lifted trading profits 30% to £70m (€104.1m).

The division was also buoyed by the acquisition of US aerospace group Stellex last September, which added £51m (€75.9m) to sales and boosted GKN’s position in titanium aircraft and engine structures.

The company said it was unaffected by the delays to the Airbus A380 programme due to its broad range of projects as Stellex had secured positions on programmes including the US Joint Strike Fighter project and the new Boeing 787.

GKN is also bidding with US defence contractor Northrop Grumman to build a new unmanned airborne vehicle (UAV) for the US Navy.