Companies: AUK    CRPR    HVN    PTD   

London's markets were held back again this month by a slew of poor earnings figures and another technology sell-off across the Atlantic. In such a climate, the FTSE SmallCap and Fledgling indices were on a hiding to nothing. The SmallCap fell from 2994.9 to 2883.3 and the Fledgling gave up 3.5 per cent to finish at 2108.4.

It wasn't all doom and gloom, however, as within the engineering sector, two ventures unveiled record sales and profits.

Having ditched its loss-making rubber-compounding interests in 1999, the 'new' Wellington beat consensus profit forecasts and delivered what chief executive Peter Bennett described as 'a full year of clean results' to 31 December 2000. Pre-tax profits were lifted by 40 per cent to £3.5 million, ahead of the £3.4 million expected by analysts, who will be looking for a profit of £3.8 million this year. The shares edged up 16.3 per cent to 89p.

Bus manufacturer Henlys also rolled out record sales and profits for the same period. Sales rocketed by 91 per cent to £882.8 million and pre-tax profits were boosted by 89.6 per cent to £46 million. Investors sent the share price ahead from 280p to 313.5p.

Another firm to improve was international trading business Adam and Harvey, which sparked up by 13.6 per cent to 125.5p. This followed a cryptic statement by the board that hinted at a new direction for the steel stockholding business and expectations that year-end results will be better than original forecasts.

Struggling paper and board manufacturer James Cropper revealed that it expects to make a loss exceeding £1 million for the year to March because of rises in the price of gas and the price of wood pulp, which impacted the papermaking division. Last time out the Cumbria-based venture raised pre-tax profits by 22 per cent to £3.1 million. Its shares shed 19 per cent to a 2001 low of 175p on the news, although they have since firmed to 187p.

Turmoil in the telecommunications industry hit electronics and decorative equipment maker Pressac. The stock crashed by 30.5p to 67.5p, also a low for the current year, on disappointing full-year figures and a bearish outlook in mobile phone product sales, which the board expects to come in lower than last year.

Also on the slide was design and engineering consultant Aukett. It surrendered over 30 per cent to 10.25p after revealing that figures to 30 September 2001 would be 'well below market expectations'. The board pointed to new projects commencing at a slower rate in the UK and the slowdown in the US economy.

The downturn across the Atlantic put support services venture Harvey Nash on the back foot. Its shares shed 40p to 397.5p after it posted full-year figures slightly below market expectations and also admitted that its US recruitment subsidiary, 'Techpartners', had been hit by weakness in the US economy. Investors were concerned that mounting job losses in the telecoms sector would affect the company this year. The recent fall in the shares means that Harvey has fallen well over 50 per cent since the start of the year.

Investors would do well to avoid leather goods venture Pittards which issued a profit warning recently, sending its share price down by 3.5p to 56.5p. The board expects a 'substantial reduction in profit before tax for 2001'. This statement prompted house broker Rowan Dartington to cut its profit forecast from £3.5 million to £1.5 million for the year (in the year to 31 December 2000, the company lifted profits from £1.8 million to £3 million).

The foot-and-mouth crisis has reduced availability of UK hides and sheepskins, significantly increasing costs at the fledgling household goods play, which has been forced to buy its raw materials from the US. As an analyst at Rowan Dartington explained, 'the company always has a problem with its raw materials, which are largely out of its control'. Its short-term future will, unfortunately, depend on the severity and length of the crippling animal disease.