Hampson reports strong trading

In a trading update Hampson said its tooling businesses – Coast Composites, Odyssey Industries, and Global Tooling Systems – had continued to perform very well. This, together with the strong US dollar, had offset the impact of expected losses in the group’s automotive business. Hampson also reported that several important new contracts had been secured since its last update in February. Looking ahead, the company said the global recession had resulted in declining orders for new commercial aircraft and as difficult economic conditions persisted it recognised the increased risk of some softening in demand in this market in 2009/10. The global automotive market continued to face severe challenges and was unlikely to see any significant upturn for the foreseeable future. However, healthy current order books, recent new contract wins in composites and a strong position in tooling, left the Group well placed to weather any down-turn. Group chief executive Kim Ward said: "These latest contract wins on several of the most high profile military aerospace programmes in the world, not only attest to the technology within our businesses, but also underpin the confidence we have in our strategy to develop world-leading positions in both advanced composite structures and specialist tooling systems."