Investors in automotive products maker Dowlais (DWL) were drowning their sorrows as the shares hit their lowest level since the firm spun out of conglomerate Melrose Industries (MRO) last year and listed as a stand-alone entity.

The group’s underlying performance for 2023 was steady if not spectacular, helped by a banner year for UK vehicle production with output topping one million units for the first time since 2019, and the board recommended an increased dividend and a share buyback of up to £50 million.

Chief executive Liam Butterworth hailed the firm’s ‘significant progress and transformation’ in 2023 along with its strong financial and operational performance, ‘demonstrating resilience, expanding margins, generating free cash flow above our expectations and reducing our financial leverage’.

However, as part of the spin-off process the firm had to ‘take ownership’ of the powder metallurgy business, the value of which it decided to write down by £450 million after reviewing its prospects.

That sent the bottom line into deficit by a similar amount and sent the shares crashing almost 10% to a new low of 81.2p.

‹ Previous2024-03-28Next ›