Trading Statement

Senior PLC
13 December 2002

13 December 2002



                        Pre Close Period Statement



Underlying trading for the second half of 2002 has remained broadly in line with
that anticipated at the time of the interim statement of 7th August 2002.



2002 Group profit before tax (after the one-off costs mentioned below) and
year-end net debt levels are anticipated to be in line with current market
expectations.



The Board expects to maintain its current dividend policy.



The Group remains cautious about the timing of any economic recovery and £1.5m
of one-off costs have been incurred in the second half of 2002. These arose
mainly for cost reduction reasons such as the closure of a small secondary
Aerospace facility and a further 150 of headcount reductions across the Group.
Also included is an inventory write-off following the bankruptcy of Fairchild
Dornier.



In Aerospace, as anticipated, there has been continued slippage in demand from
civil aerospace customers but increased activity in the defence sector, which
now accounts for 29% of the division's sales. Activity on future programmes
remains high with production of Trent 500 and ERJ170 expected to increase during
2003.  Considerable engineering project work is being undertaken on both the
A380 and Joint Strike Fighter programmes. Other markets served by the division
show little change - recovery has not yet been seen in the semi-conductor market
and power generation investment is at a low ebb.



Automotive demand in North America has weakened in the last quarter of 2002 and
2003 is expected to be slightly lower than 2002.  European markets remain mixed
and overall are more likely to weaken in the short term than strengthen. Work
continues on new product development and this will result in increased
automotive capital expenditure in 2003 with the benefit being seen in later
years.  The increase will be offset by much reduced capital expenditure
requirements in Aerospace.



The Industrial Division continues to trade as expected. As previously announced,
the disposal of four small European businesses was effected in October.  The
profitability of the division comes mainly from the North American operations
and this is expected to continue despite the industrial recession and the drop
in demand for power generation equipment.



We remain committed to our strategy of business improvement with cash generation
and debt reduction a continuing focus during these challenging economic
conditions.  This increasing operational and financial strength will better
enable the Group to take advantage of the global economic upturn when it comes.





Enquiries:


Senior
Graham Menzies            Group Chief Executive            01923 714702
Mark Rollins              Group Finance Director           01923 714738


Finsbury
James Murgatroyd                                           020 7251 3801
Gordon Simpson



This announcement, together with other information about Senior plc, can be
found at www.seniorplc.com





Note to Editors:



Senior is an international manufacturing group with annual sales of around £400m
and with operations in 13 countries.



Senior designs, manufactures and markets high technology components and systems
for the principal original equipment producers in the worldwide aerospace,
automotive and specialised industrial markets.



Senior's policy is to enhance shareholder value by improving operating
performance and customer service levels and by developing its market position in
the aerospace and automotive industries.






                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange