Sector: Engineering

Britain’s engineering sector may have been battered and bruised over recent decades and during this recession, but many of the sector’s quoted constituents continue to display vital signs.

Two strong current performers are Weir Group and Cookson, both FTSE 250 listed and both reaping the benefits of the economic recovery. Pump-maker and valves group Weir has pleased investors with news that it performed better than expected during the first quarter, with activity levels improving ‘across a number of end markets’ such as mining and oil and gas. As a result, the Glasgow-based group now expects full-year profits to come in ‘around £30 million ahead of our previous expectations’ – analysts had pencilled in £190.85 million on £1.4 billion sales before the announcement.

Fellow second liner Cookson, which supplies ceramic parts to industry, also cheered followers with a chipper update, saying it expects sales for the first half of 2010 to come in 25 to 27 per cent ahead of the comparable half last year, producing profits of between £110 million and £115 million, significantly north of the £95 million delivered in the latter half of 2009.

Elsewhere, the sector received an additional boost with the news that appliances maker Dyson, the company founded by inventor James Dyson, has decided to double the number of engineers it employs. Under its plans to increase research and development investment during the downturn, the company says it will hire 350 new engineers, upping its total to 700.