Machining sale

17 August 2009

Hampson, a West Midlands-based aerospace and precision engineering group, has sold its aerospace machining subsidiary to Darwin Private Equity for a cash consideration of £23.7m.

Hampson Aerospace Machining (HAML), which employs 300 people across three facilities in the UK, provides the precision machining of metallic components for technologies such as gas turbine engines.

The subsidiary generated revenue of £28.3m for the year ending 31 March 2009 and a profit of £2.3m. For the four months before the end of July, HAML reported revenue of £8.3m and a trading profit of £1.1m. However, according to the group, the disposal is expected to lead to some dilution in current year earnings per share as a result of low interest rates.

Kim Ward, Hampson’s chief executive, said: ‘The disposal of HAML marks an important step in streamlining the group's portfolio as we concentrate our efforts on sectors where we can take advantage of higher long-term growth rates and generate tangible synergies.

‘Exiting our non-core, UK machining operations will enable us to focus on developing our advanced composites businesses in components and tooling systems and strengthen our ability to capitalise on the significant opportunities arising from the introduction of major new programmes and technologies in aerospace manufacturing.’