Midland wheel-maker Titan Europe has reported a big jump in orders – but still expects to announce a pre-tax pre-exceptional loss.
Steel wheels and undercarriages firm, which is based in Kidderminster, said it was seeing order volumes for the first six months of 2010 running 45 per cent ahead of the second half of last year.
However, the company still expects to announce a pre-tax pre-exceptional loss in May in line with market expectations for the year to December.
Total revenues are expected to be around £260 million, consistent with the very weak third and fourth quarter demand predicted in Titan’s November update.
The group said: “Present visibility suggests that agriculture will be approximately on budget for the year having made a slow start; mining and construction, which suffered most in 2009, are now ahead of budget with a solid order follow through.
“All geographical markets are showing an increase in demand, with very strong growth in South America, Central Europe and the Far East. Throughout the group there are new contracts coming on stream. Further potential new volumes are still to be confirmed.”
The grop also revealed a new undercarriage factory in China is expected to be in full production during the third quarter and a second phase of further expansion to support demand from customers is now being planned.
