Severfield-Rowen down as profits plummet

Mounting debts and plunging profits have seen structural steel firm Severfield-Rowen drop sharply through Tuesday morning trading.

The company's underlying profits before tax came in at £10.1m, slightly above the market forecast of £10m but 34% down on 2010.

Revenues held steady at £267.8m, above expectations of £262.5m (2010: £266.7) but debt doubled from £15m in the prior year to £31.3m by the end of 2011.

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Severfield-Rowen, which is based in North Yorkshire, also said it had lost a big contract at its Indian division which left the unit's forward order book down by £18m.

The firms says the UK market is "subdued" noting that several of its competitors have exited as demand has dried up.

Chief Executive Tom Haughey said: "...market share in key sectors continues to grow with a post-Olympic order book of £221m. The order book composition is largely as forecast from commercial offices, industrial, warehousing and energy / power sectors."

At 11:45 Severfield-Rowen shares had dropped 8.35%.

BS