Q1 Trading Update
Summary by AI BETAClose X
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The Weir Group PLC trading update for the first quarter ended 31 March 20261
Order growth on track; 2026 guidance reiterated
Strong and growing pipeline of mine optimisation and expansion opportunities; Group orders2 +4%
• Large equipment projects picking up pace, c. £20m order for GEHO® pumps in India received in Q1
• Acquisition integration progressing well, performance in line with plans
Good visibility of large project pipeline conversion ahead; Group OE orders2 +1%
• Minerals OE2 -3% - good underlying momentum offset by phasing; full year project pipeline strong
• ESCO OE2 +49% - exceptional order levels for highly engineered mining attachments
Very positive mine activity levels; Group AM orders2 +4%
• Minerals AM2 +1% - Townley contribution offset by temporary mine disruptions and HPGR AM ramp-up in PY
• ESCO AM2 +11% - strong growth in mining and infrastructure GET (+7%) and Software Solutions
Strong strategic progress with all acquisitions on track
• Completed acquisition of ESEL; strong start to ESCO go-direct strategy in Chile
• Good progress in Micromine and Fast2Mine orders as enhanced sales pipelines begin to convert
• Integration of Townley sales team and brands complete
FY outlook: 2026 guidance reiterated
• Positive markets enhanced by contributions from recent acquisitions
• Growth in constant currency revenue, operating profit and operating margin
• Free operating cash conversion of 90% to 100%
Jon Stanton, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"During the first quarter, the Group executed strongly against our strategic growth agenda, completing the acquisition of ESEL and integrating at pace those acquisitions completed last year. Against a backdrop of growing geopolitical tensions, our strong operational platform is delivering for our customers, with limited impact to our global supply chain.
Looking ahead to the full year, we remain focused on disciplined execution despite several challenges facing the mining industry, not least rising uncertainty as to potential impacts from conflict in the Middle East. With supportive commodity prices driving demand for expansions and high underlying activity levels, we expect orders to develop very positively through the year and reiterate our full year guidance for growth in constant currency revenue and operating profit, together with achievement of our margin and cash conversion targets."
First quarter review
Group
We have good visibility across the Group of our pipeline brownfield and greenfield expansion projects as customers are increasingly investing in expansion and debottlenecking projects as supply deficits in critical metals emerge. Group OE orders2 increased +1%, as good underlying momentum in the quarter was masked by phasing, with expectations of strong full year growth enhanced as projects accelerate.
Good momentum in AM orders across Minerals and ESCO in the quarter was offset by a number of mine site disruptions and orderbook phasing, and overall AM orders2 were +4%. Strong integration progress across our recent acquisitions of Micromine, Fast2Mine, Townley and ESEL contributed +7% to Group AM orders2 in the quarter.
In total, on a constant currency basis, year-on-year Group orders increased +4% in the first quarter. Year to date book-to-bill increased to 1.14 following normal seasonality.
In the quarter, we began to realise benefits from capacity optimisation projects completed in 2025, bringing cumulative Performance Excellence programme savings to £66m. Above savings on a run rate basis, we continue to receive incremental benefits from our LEAN and WBS activities, keeping us on track to deliver our upgraded 2026 target of £90m in cumulative savings.
Given our significant acquisition and debt refinancing activities in 2025, we expect the integration of these businesses and deleveraging our balance sheet to remain our focus over the course of this year.
Minerals
· OE orders2 -3%; good underlying momentum offset by orderbook phasing
· AM orders2 +1%; ore production growth offset by temporary mine disruptions and PY comparator
In OE, positive demand for large debottlenecking and expansion projects was offset by phasing of orders. During the quarter, we received orders for a long-distance iron ore concentrate pipeline in India as well as our first two vertical stirred mills, a proof point for the innovative technology we are bringing to the market. We continue to grow our pump market share with four completed mill pump trials in the quarter, three of which were successfully converted to WARMAN®.
Aftermarket orders increased on continued high levels of activity in copper and gold, and as the integration of the Townley business continues at pace with the sales team and brands now fully aligned with the broader Minerals portfolio. Growth in the quarter was partially offset by temporary mine site disruptions in APAC and Africa and a strong PY comparable including the booking of several HPGR spares orders for newly installed machines.
ESCO
· OE orders2 +49%; very strong demand for mining buckets globally
· AM orders2 +11%; reflecting growth in GET and software solutions contributions offset by dredge
In OE, growth was driven by mining bucket orders across the core mining regions of North America, South America and Africa, as well as our first orders for the innovative Production Master bucket in APAC. Truck bodies and lip systems also contributed to strong demand in the quarter.
Strong momentum in mining and infrastructure GET (+7%) and from the oil sands was offset by limited demand for dredge points due to the Middle East conflicts, following an exceptional £7m3 of orders in Q1 2025. We continue to gain market share in mining GET with 19 net major digger conversions. Integration of ESEL is proceeding smoothly, with all customers now transitioned and bookings up year on year as the growth strategy is executed.
Our Software Solutions business is performing strongly, with good market momentum. We are leveraging Weir's global footprint to drive growth across Software Solutions and progressing well with Motion Metrics transition to the SaaS revenue model. In the quarter, we booked strategic orders for a software trial at a Micromine Tier 1 target customer and a Fast2Mine international order.
Net debt
As expected, we remain on track to deliver strong cash generation, with net debt following normal seasonal patterns. By year end 2026, we expect to return towards our normal operating range of 0.5 to 1.5 times net debt to EBITDA, in line with our capital allocation policy. We anticipate resulting net interest expense of £90m for the full year, which we expect to decrease to c. £70m through 2028.
Outlook
Looking ahead to the full year, we remain focused on disciplined execution despite several challenges facing the mining industry, not least rising uncertainty as to potential impacts from conflict in the Middle East. Activity levels in our core mining markets remain strong and activity around larger projects is also picking up pace. Combined with continued growth in Software Solutions and the remaining £30m full year Performance Excellence benefits, we are on track to deliver growth in constant currency revenue, operating profit and operating margin over the full year with free operating cash conversion of between 90% and 100%.
We expect good growth in orders over the full year and are encouraged by both our visibility of the orderbook and operational momentum. As in 2025, we expect a weighting in revenue and profit to the second half. We expect cash conversion to follow normal seasonal patterns, with a steady build in inventory through the first half followed by collections toward the end of the year.
Over the longer term, Weir has a compelling value creation opportunity. As a focused mining technology leader with a world class operating platform, the fundamentals for our business are highly attractive. Underpinned by a resilient business model and robust balance sheet, we are poised to drive accelerated growth through compounding M&A, all while doing the right thing for our people, our other stakeholders, and the planet.
Notes:
1. Financial information is given for the three months ended 31 March 2026, unless stated otherwise.
2. Orders are reported on a constant currency basis with 2025 restated at 2026 average exchange rates.
3. USD to GBP rate of 1.35.
4. Figures in table are impacted by roundings.
Analyst and investor conference call
A conference call for analysts and investors will be held at 0800 BST on Thursday 30 April 2026 to discuss this statement. Participants can join the call by registering in advance by visiting www.global.weir/investors and following the link on the page. A recording of this conference call will be available until Thursday 7 May 2026.
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Enquiries: |
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Investors: Philip Carlisle |
+44 (0)141 308 3617 |
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Media: Sally Jones |
+44 (0)141 308 3666 |
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CDR: Claire de Groot |
+44 (0) 7767 254 469 |
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CDR: Sabine Pirone |
+44 (0) 7903 847 557 Weir@cdrconsultancy.com |
About The Weir Group PLC
Founded in 1871, The Weir Group PLC is one of the world's leading engineering businesses with a purpose to make its mining and infrastructure customers' operations more sustainable and efficient. Weir's highly engineered technology and digital solutions enable critical resources to be produced using less energy, water and waste while reducing customers' total cost of ownership. The Group is ideally positioned to benefit from structural trends that support long-term demand for its technology including the need for more essential metals to support economic development and carbon transition. The Group has c.12,000 employees operating in over 50 countries with a presence in every major mining region of the world. Find out more at www.global.weir.
Weir's ordinary shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (ticker: WEIR LN) and its American Depositary Receipts trade over-the-counter in the USA (ticker: WEGRY).
Appendix 1 - Group quarterly order trends
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Reported organic growth4 |
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Division |
2025 Q1 |
2025 Q2 |
2025 Q3 |
2025 Q4 |
2026 Q1 |
|
|
Original Equipment |
6% |
16% |
-24% |
9% |
-6% |
|
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Aftermarket |
9% |
10% |
3% |
1% |
-3% |
|
|
Minerals |
8% |
11% |
-6% |
2% |
-3% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Original Equipment |
0% |
-16% |
36% |
-7% |
49% |
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|
Aftermarket |
-2% |
4% |
9% |
11% |
-5% |
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ESCO |
-2% |
2% |
11% |
8% |
-2% |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Original Equipment |
5% |
12% |
-21% |
7% |
-2% |
|
|
Aftermarket |
5% |
8% |
5% |
3% |
-3% |
|
|
Group |
5% |
9% |
-2% |
4% |
-3% |
|
|
Book-to-bill |
1.11 |
1.07 |
1.01 |
0.89 |
1.14 |
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Quarterly reported orders £m |
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Division |
2025 Q1 |
2025 Q2 |
2025 Q3 |
2025 Q4 |
2026 Q1 |
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Original Equipment |
122 |
115 |
109 |
116 |
115 |
|
|
Aftermarket |
349 |
367 |
327 |
374 |
352 |
|
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Minerals |
471 |
482 |
436 |
490 |
467 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Original Equipment |
12 |
12 |
13 |
13 |
18 |
|
|
Aftermarket |
165 |
162 |
169 |
173 |
179 |
|
|
ESCO |
177 |
174 |
182 |
186 |
197 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Original Equipment |
134 |
127 |
122 |
129 |
133 |
|
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Aftermarket |
514 |
529 |
496 |
547 |
531 |
|
|
Group |
648 |
656 |
618 |
676 |
664 |
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Appendix 2 - 2026 Q1 order bridges (as reported)4
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Minerals |
ESCO |
Group |
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Group orders (£m) |
OE |
AM |
Total |
OE |
AM |
Total |
OE |
AM |
Total |
|
2025 Q1 - as reported |
122 |
349 |
471 |
12 |
165 |
177 |
134 |
514 |
648 |
|
Organic |
-6% |
-3% |
-3% |
49% |
-5% |
-2% |
-2% |
-3% |
-3% |
|
Structure |
3% |
4% |
3% |
0% |
16% |
15% |
3% |
7% |
7% |
|
Currency |
-3% |
0% |
-1% |
-1% |
-2% |
-2% |
-3% |
-1% |
-1% |
|
Total |
-6% |
1% |
-1% |
48% |
9% |
11% |
-2% |
3% |
3% |
|
2026 Q1 - as reported |
115 |
352 |
467 |
18 |
179 |
197 |
133 |
531 |
664 |
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