Insider Media Limited

Weak performances in Hampson Industries' tooling divisions have led to a pre-tax loss of £31m over the past six months. The company said it was also reviewing the future of its Indian subsidiary after further losses were unveiled.

The Brierley Hill-based manufacturer said its Odyssey and Global Tooling System (GTS) operations had returned reduced revenues over the six months to 30 September.

Results at Odyssey were down approximately 20 per cent in the period and order book levels declined. Hampson Industries said that as a result of this and future projections for this business, a £28.3m impairment of goodwill was taken in the period.

GTS experienced a reduction in revenues and decline in trading profit compared with the prior year. However, by the end of the period, orders were up to £8m compared with £11m in the previous year.

Hampson Industries reported a pre-tax loss of £31m compared with a loss of £1.9m in the comparable 2010 period. Revenue also sunk from £83.3m to £76.7m.

During the period, the company's Indian operation BHW experienced a reduction in revenues of more than 20 per cent and made an undisclosed loss. The board of Hampson said the future of the business "is now under review".

Sales in its aerospace division declined by £1.1m (6 per cent) to £17.3m.

Chief executive Norman Jordan said: "Hampson is positioned to benefit from both the anticipated strong recovery in the civil aerospace cycle and the trend to greater use of composite materials in aircraft.

"In the near term the group has overall order cover or pipeline opportunities adequate to deliver, subject as always to customer scheduling , full year performance consistent with the first half and we continue to focus on further operational and gross margin improvements."