Tomkins sees continuing declines in sales

ERJ staff report (DS)

London -- Tomkins PLC says the automotive OE sector will continue to show a challenging business environment for the rest of the year. The company, which owns Gates Rubber and other subsidiaries said it has strong finances behind it.

The company said, "During the first quarter of 2009, our Industrial and Automotive business group continued to see significant year-on-year declines in volumes on a global basis. The original equipment businesses were affected by plant shutdowns and short work weeks across many customers, and in the case of Chrysler and General Motors, concerns regarding their potential bankruptcy.

It continued, "The Board expects that conditions in most of the Group's end markets will continue to remain challenging throughout the remainder of 2009. Performance in the first half of 2009 is expected to be weak compared with the first half of 2008. However the second half of 2009 should show some easing on a comparable basis due to the benefits of our restructuring projects coupled with an anticipated slowdown in the rate of decline in many of our end-markets."

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Press release from Tomkins