Whessoe rises 13%

WHESSOE, the Darlington- based precision engineer and pipe maker, pushed pre-tax profits up 13 per cent to pounds 8.3m for the year to 30 September, writes Robert Cole.

Profits from making measuring devices and fitting pipes to power stations both rose. Measurement contributed pounds 2.6m, up from pounds 1.8m, and pipes added pounds 5.1m, up from pounds 3.7m.

The company said profits from fitting pipes will fall in the current year as a large contract at the Sizewell nuclear power plant will end, but it hopes to find some replacement work with orders from the contractors building the new gas-powered stations.

However, Whessoe - once exclusively linked to heavy engineering projects - now prefers making lighter control instruments. In January it spent pounds 10m acquiring Varec, a specialist in the area.

Project engineering - a remnant of the group's traditional interests - made pounds 450,000, down from pounds 500,000. Whessoe said it would sell the operation or close it when current orders are complete.

Shares rose 1p to 230p yesterday. The total dividend is 8p, compared with 7.2p last time.