Castings’ first half progress wiped out

As its operating profit dipped by a tenth to £12.5m, Castings’ (CGS) chairman Brian Cooke described the 12 months to 31 March as “a year of three parts”. In the first half, the iron castings and machining group saw higher revenue from its foundry operations and a return to profit at CNC Speedwell. But this momentum reversed in the second half of the year amid lower demand from the commercial vehicles sector – output dropped to 70 per cent of capacity. Covid-19 then reared its head in the third week of March as original equipment manufacturers closed their plants. With demand plunging by 80 per cent, this knocked £0.75m off of full year revenue.