These shares have been on a downward slope for 12 months, the directors have not been buying and brokers are pessimistic. We know it is exposed to a weak dollar but does anybody what percentage of its turnover it sells to Ford. With talk in the US internets sites of it going into chapter 11 (where the suppliers are the hardest hit) this could be a critical factor in getting out fast. Would appreciate if an insider could help.

Looks like all the engineering firms have had a good 6 months restocking all those companies who have de-stocked over the recession. However the rumour is that inventories are now high enough & therefore the parts suppliers are now going to have a tricky time again. I think GKN is reaching it's high & am going to stay out for a while.

StockMarketWire.com
Automotive and aerospace components manufacturer GKN bounced back into the black with a first half pre-tax profits of 180m compared with a loss of 16m last time.

Reported sales in the six months ended 30 June improved to 2.54bn from 2.06bn in the first half of 2009.

The group said the results reflect the strong recovery in Driveline, Powder Metallurgy and Land Systems sales relative to a weak first half of 2009, a good performance in aerospace and the on-going benefits from restructuring.

Sales on a management basis rose 25% (536m) to 2.7bn and the firm made a trading profit of 202m - up 177m.

Net debt fell by 98m to 202m and the firm declares an interim dividend of 1.5p (2009: nil).

StockMarketWire.com
Global engineering group GKN said this morning it has continued to make strong progress through the third quarter and expects a solid close to the year.

Group sales in the quarter to end-September totalled 1,336m, a 21% increase over the comparable period in 2009.

Favourable currency translation and acquisitions increased sales by 40m and therefore underlying sales increased by 17%.

Third quarter trading profit was 100m, a 92% increase over the comparable period in 2009, or an 87% underlying increase.

The Group's profit before taxation was 88m.

Net debt end-September was 212m (3end-June 2010: 202 million).

GKN said overall demand during the third quarter remained at similar levels to the second quarter, with the European seasonal decline less than normal and strong demand in North America and Asia.

GKN's Automotive (Driveline and Powder Metallurgy) Q3 sales increased by 34% compared with last year, to 800m (2009: 598m), up 28% on an underlying basis.

Trading profit was 55m (2009: 14m).

Overall, Automotive trading margin was 6.9%, with Powder Metallurgy trading margin at 7.9% and Driveline at 6.6%.

Driveline's profits were held back somewhat during the quarter as a result of additional temporary labour costs in Europe to meet higher than expected customer demand during the holiday season and increased raw material costs which should largely be recovered over coming months.

Aerospace markets continued to perform broadly in line with expectations although the seasonal decline in third quarter sales in Europe proved somewhat greater than normal. It is expected that this shortfall will be caught up by the year end.

Aerospace's third quarter sales were down 3% on last year at 349m (2009: 361m) and down 7% on an underlying basis.

Trading profit was 39m (2009: 43m) and the trading margin was 11.2%.

Compared with last year, Land Systems' third quarter sales were up 30% at 165m (2009: 127m) with trading profit of 8m (2009: trading loss of 3m) and a trading margin of 4.8%.

The Group intends to issue its full year results announcement on 1st March 2011.