WEIR Group has declared it has entered the fourth quarter with a “strong order book and operating momentum” as it maintained its profit guidance for the year.

The Glasgow-based engineering giant reported that “high levels of mining activity” had driven demand for spares and expendables as it updated the city on trading in the third quarter ended September 30.

The company, which employs around 12,000 people in 60 countries, said activity levels gave it confidence to reiterate its guidance for strong growth in constant currency and operating profit this year. It is guiding on operating margins of 17%, and 80% to 90% free operating cash conversion.

Weir told investors that high levels of ore production, which are targeted by miners for energy transition metals such as copper, had helped it deliver growth in after-market orders of 1% in the quarter. Volume growth in mining and price realisation offset by lower demand from the Canadian oil sands sector and from infrastructure customers at its US-based ESCO division.

Orders for original mining equipment were down by 2% in the third quarter but “stable” for the nine months to September 30, helped by high levels of small brownfield projects and good momentum in the mining-focused part of ESCO, its Oregon-based division which manufacturers “mission critical” machinery for the mining and infrastructure markets.

However, overall orders at ESCO decrease by an expected 3%, as momentum in mining was offset by challenges in the North American infrastructure market, where “order trends continued to be impacted by dealer destocking, and while end market activity levels were broadly stable, they remain well below the peak of 2022”.

Weir added: “In Europe, macroeconomic factors meant underlying demand continued to be supressed.”

While Weir, which can trace its roots back to 1871, warned that macroeconomic and geopolitical “complexities” lie ahead, it said “ore production trends in mining continue to be strong and our aftermarket has embedded resilience”.

The company added that it is on track to make savings of £6m this year through its Performance Excellence transformation programme.

Mr Stanton said: “Our third quarter performance is in line with our expectations. We capitalised on high levels of activity in our mining markets, growing mining aftermarket orders, maintaining good momentum in original equipment and expanding our installed base to support future aftermarket growth.

“We also executed strongly, growing revenue, expanding our operating margins, and realising the initial cost savings from our Performance Excellence transformation programme. Going into the fourth quarter, we have a strong order book and operating momentum. These, coupled with high levels of activity in our mining markets, give us significant confidence in reiterating our 2023 guidance of strong growth in constant currency revenue and operating profit, and in meeting our margin and cash conversion targets.”

The update came as Weir announced the appointment of Brian Puffer of BP as its new chief financial officer, replacing John Heasley who as announced in July is leaving to join Anglo American as finance director. Mr Puffer is currently chief financial and risk officer of BP plc Integrated Supply and Trading and has more 30 years’ experience in “driving commercial and financial performance in both industry and as a partner in PwC”. He will join the board on April 1, 2024, at the latest.

Mr Heasley will step down and resign from the board on November 30.

Barbara Jeremiah, chair of Weir Group, said: “The board is delighted to appoint Brian as the Group’s new CFO. He is an accomplished finance leader and with his broad experience, he will be a valuable asset to Weir. Brian joins our strong finance team at Weir and will provide leadership as we drive standardisation and simplification across the business. We look forward to welcoming him to the board.”