Bimec result falls below expectations

BIMEC Industries, the water treatment, aerospace and environmental engineering group, disappointed the City yesterday with pre-tax profits below expectations at pounds 6m ( pounds 5.4m), writes John Murray. The shares dipped 5 1/2p to 31 1/2 p.

Brokers had expected between pounds 8m and pounds 9m for the year to 31 March, but the company said its progress had been slowed by the worst trading conditions since the Second World War.

Despite this, turnover increased by a third to pounds 103.2m, most of the growth coming from the waste and water treatment division. Sam Smith, chairman, said the results were creditable in the circumstances. 'But I acknowledge that the market expectation was greater than we realised.'

He referred to takeover rumours that have surrounded Bimec, admitting that some of the water companies had shown an interest. 'There have been fluttering eyelids,' he said.

Mr Smith described 1992 as 'a lost year', and saw little sign of a pick-up. But he was positive about prospects for overseas growth. He hinted at a fund-raising exercise to finance expansion in Germany and the Middle East. Earnings per share were maintained at 5.1p and the dividend was held at 1.5p.