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Castings PLC on Wednesday reported slower trading in the year ended March 31, with both revenue and profit in decline. The Brownhills, England-based metal manufacturing company posted revenue of £177.0 million in financial 2025, down 27% from £224.4 million the year prior. Pretax profit plummeted to £5.6 million from £21.3 million in 2024, while basic earnings per share shrunk 75% to 9.60 pence from 38.45p on-year. Diluted EPS fell to 9.56p from 38.32p the year prior. Castings attributed the sharp downturn to lower demand from heavy truck customers, which account for more than 75% of revenue, and from the European market, especially Germany. Depressed demand conditions are expected to continue in the short-term, but start to ease in autumn, which is roughly midway through financial 2026. Lower demand resulted in higher electricity costs, Castings said, with penalties worth £1.5 million impose on forward-purchased electricity that was not used. Castings noted it had reduced pre-purchased volumes from October 2025 onwards, with no further loss expected in this area. More positively, Castings pointed to the acquisition of an iron manufacturing business in Scunthorpe, England, back in June 2024, which is expected to exposed the firm to more spot-orders and therefore more varied short-term demand. Castings set a final dividend per share of 14.19p, unchanged from the year prior, and a total dividend of 18.40p per share, up slightly from 18.32p on-year. The company’s shares were 2.4% higher at 280.00p each on Wednesday afternoon in London. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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