GKN rides out Japanese fallout

Car parts and engineering firm GKN yesterday said last month's disaster in Japan hit profits, but is not expected to derail its recovery.

The company said profits increased 42 per cent to 119 million in the first quarter of 2011 as it benefited from buoyant car markets in North America, India and China. Group sales rose 14 per cent to 1.5 billion.

Its Driveline business, which makes driveshafts for almost half of new cars, saw profits increase by 35 per cent to 50m, despite the disruption from an earthquake and tsunami in Japan a month ago costing it 3m.

The company also said it had sold its share of a joint-venture driveshaft sales and distribution business in Japan for 8m which the company claimed would only have a small impact on profits in the short-term. Shares closed up 2.2p at 204.6p.