Goodwin Plc shares were sliding on Tuesday morning, even after it reported a sharp increase in first-half profits, supported by strong demand across defence, nuclear and energy-related markets.
The FTSE 250 engineering group said it expects full-year profitability to exceed £71m.
Trading profit for the six months to 31 October rose to £37.2m from £17.1m a year earlier, as revenue increased 27.4% to £135.6m.
Operating profit also came in at £37.2m, while profit before tax rose to £36.8m from £16.7m.
Basic and diluted earnings per share increased to 351.7p from 150.91p.
Chairman TJW Goodwin said the board was reporting "a solid trading performance for the Group," adding that workload at the time of reporting stood at £330m.
He said Goodwin Steel Castings and Goodwin International continued to supply high-integrity components to the defence and nuclear sectors, with demand remaining robust, while the group's pump businesses delivered consistent results, helped by performance in India and South Africa offsetting weaker trading in Brazil and Australia.
Goodwin said Easat Radar Systems had secured the award of a PSR system for Cornwall Airport alongside additional customer orders, while axial valve sales at Noreva were buoyant, driven primarily by large LNG projects in the United States and Qatar.
In the refractory engineering division, performance remained resilient, although Dupré Minerals' profits were marginally lower as core markets normalised following post-Covid demand.
Net debt stood at £5.8m at the end of October, compared with £38.8m a year earlier.
Following the payment of a one-off special interim dividend of 532p per share in November, net debt rose to £53m at the end of that month, representing gearing of 46%, which the company said was in line with expectations.
Looking ahead, the board said the group had delivered "a pleasing first-half performance" and continued to benefit from a strong workload pipeline, with order intake and programme execution providing medium-term visibility.
It said current operational capacity, technical capability and order cover underpinned activity through the remainder of the financial year and into the medium term, and reiterated its expectation that full-year profitability will be above £71m.
At 0937 GMT, shares in Goodwin were down 6.99% at 20,091p.
Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.