Avon Rubber (LON:AVON) said second half trading had been strong and that it expects full-year earnings to be in line with its expectations.
The company, which makes everything from equipment for milking cows to gas masks for the military, on Friday said order intake across its Avon Protection unit had remained positive with full-year constant currency revenue growth expected to come in at around 7%.
Avon said that during the second half its military business had received orders from the US Department of Defence for 116,000 M50 mask systems, bringing total orders received during the year to 216,000 systems. It said it expects to deliver circa 182,000 M50 mask systems to the DoD during the current financial year, with a carry-over of 83,000 systems next year.
Contract opportunities
The company said that it has an active pipeline of incremental contract opportunities across its military business and remains well placed to make further progress in capitalising on its leading military position and product range. Tougher market conditions continued to impact its fire business performance in the second half of the year, it added.
Avon said the global dairy market environment had remained positive and that it had seen improved trading conditions in North America in the second half. As a result, the division’s full-year constant currency revenue growth is expected to come in at around 4%.
"The group's momentum has carried over into the second half of the year with Avon Protection continuing to benefit from opportunities across its product portfolio and customer base, and an improved overall performance from milkrite InterPuls following the recovery in the North American market,” CEO Paul McDonald said in a statement.
“Our strong order book provides good visibility going into the new financial year and the business is well positioned to deliver further growth and take advantage of new product opportunities to build a stronger business for the future,” he added.
Shares in Avon Rubber were 2.1% up at 1,420p in early trade.