British-based manufacturer Fenner on Wednesday reported first quarter trading in line with expectations following strong demand in North America.

The FTSE 250 company's arm Engineered Conveying Solutions performed particularly well in the North American coal sector for the quarter ended January 16th, the company announced in a trading update.

The newly purchased Australian Conveyor Engineering, which specialises in developing conveying equipment for mining, also showed strong operating results since its acquisition in November.

While mining industry sentiment has declined due to lower iron ore and coal prices, Fenner said other regions of the world showed steady demand.

More positive signals

In that same vein, the Advanced Engineered Products (AEP) division's activity rates reflected moderate channel de-stocking which were highlighted at the time of preliminary results in November last year.

"There are encouraging signs that activity rates will be stronger in the second half as customer de-stocking programmes wind-down," the firm said.

In September AEP acquired American Industrial Plastics, Norwegian Seals and Mandals. The businesses have so far wielded good results, offsetting the effects of the channel de-stocking in other areas of the division.

Fenner said it remained mindful of ongoing global economic uncertainty as it approaches 2013 with caution.

Pick-up expected in second half
"As previously highlighted, we expect trading volumes for the first half to continue at a level lower than the record levels of the prior year, and our performance to be more heavily weighted this year to the second half

"We continue to implement our business strategies and remain well placed to capitalise on the long-term growth opportunities in our core markets."



Shares rose 0.53% to 395.20p.

RD

Related share prices
Fenner (FENR) share price