Spirax-Sarco Engineering (LSE:SPX) shares fell as the steam valve specialist confirmed flat first-half sales with only a modest recovery expected for the remainder of the year.
Currency headwinds and some weakness in core markets meant interim sales for the FTSE 100 group dropped 3% to £827 million.
Statutory profits picked up 9% to £124 million on margin gains but were down 10% on an adjusted basis as the core steam trap arm struggled.
Nimesh Patel, chief executive, said: "Against the backdrop of a weak macroeconomic environment in some of our key markets and a strong currency headwind, first half results were slightly below our expectations.
“We expect stronger growth in the second half, supported by higher IP, ongoing operational improvement in ETS and cost discipline.”
The interim dividend went up 3% but the shares still dropped 8% to 7,835p, falling below 8,000p for the first time in almost four years.
Analysts at Stifel said the steam business is being hit by weaker macro trends, especially in China.
"This is a weak update in our view," they added, noting that despite the shares' poor performance, they still trade for 27 times forward earnings.