Glasgow's Weir Group positioned for 'exciting' future in mining after hike in profit and dividend

Weir Group, the Glasgow-headquartered global mining engineer, described its future as “exciting” as it delivered a double-digit hike in annual profits.

Shares received a lift as the firm reported a statutory profit before tax of £260 million from continuing operations, up 24 per cent on the year before. Revenue in 2022 amounted to just over £2.47 billion, a rise of 28 per cent on a reported basis. A full-year dividend of 32.8p per share is 38 per cent higher than the year before.

Chief executive Jon Stanton told investors: “The value creation opportunity for Weir is compelling. The mining industry is playing a crucial role in meeting the twin demands for decarbonisation and economic growth, resulting in multi-decade demand growth for critical metals. Weir is the focused mining technology leader that is well placed to capitalise.

“Deeply embedded in our customer operations and offering unique engineering expertise and innovation, our solutions are delivering excellent outcomes for all stakeholders. This is reflected in the proven performance of our mining businesses through the cycle, and was further evidenced in 2022. We are making mining smarter, more efficient and sustainable. So our future is exciting.”

Weir Group, which was founded in 1871 by two Scottish engineers, James and George Weir, has gone through major restructuring to focus its efforts on the global mining industry.

Analysts at brokerage Shore Capital retained their “buy” recommendation on Weir Group’s shares, noting: “Population growth, the convergence of living standards, urbanisation, ore grade decline and the demand for metals/battery metals to support the global clean energy transition/decarbonisation all point in Weir’s favour. Especially given the need for mining to become more efficient and reduce its carbon emissions.”