Revenues sluggish at manufacturer as it warns of ‘softer’ recovery

Meggitt, the manufacturer of components for the power and aerospace industries, has seen its revenue slip for the first quarter of 2021.

The Warwickshire firm says that the ongoing affects of the Covid-19 pandemic are “holding back” Q1 profits and that it expects the pace of recovery to be “slightly softer” than previously thought.

Group revenue dropped by 29% in the first three months of the year, said Meggitt, an improvement on the final quarter of 2020, which saw turnover slump by 35%.

Despite this, the company said it expects profits for this year to be ahead of 2021, and added: “While the demand trends in civil aerospace in the first quarter are expected to continue throughout the rest of the first half, we continue to anticipate and plan for a progressive recovery in civil aerospace activity levels throughout the third and fourth quarters as passenger confidence grows. As a result of the recent reduction in full year industry traffic forecasts, we now expect the extent of this recovery to be slightly softer than at the time of our March results. Conditions in our defence and energy end markets are expected to remain robust.”