Weir warns of foreign exchange hit to profits

Glasgow-based engineering group Weir today said its full-year profits will take a knock because of the weak US and Australian dollars.

The firm also said weakness in many emerging market currencies will contribute to a hit to profits of between £8 million and £12m as its predicted annual underlying pre-tax profits of between £425m and £435m.

However, the fall in the US dollar has helped to deliver a reduction in debts, the group said today in a trading update.

Weir also said revenues and profits during the third quarter were lower than expected because of a slow recovery in upstream oil and gas markets and project delays in the minerals industry.