Vesuvius Plc. recently released half year results for the six months ended June 30, 2013. Revenue from continuing operations was £773 million (~ $1,197 billion), a reduction of 5.7% compared to the same period last year, reportedly reflecting the weaker conditions year-on-year in the global steel and foundry end markets.

Vesuvius’ Advanced Refractories revenue declined by 7% to £235 million (~ $364 million), mainly reflecting the sale of the Andreco Hurll and VGT Dyko operations in 2012 and early 2013, respectively. On an underlying basis, first half revenue in the division was 2% lower than in the same period last year, due to softer markets in Europe and the Americas.

“Vesuvius has delivered a solid performance in the first half, in a trading environment that was generally stable but still operating at a substantially lower level than in the first half of last year,” said François Wanecq, chief executive. “All of our businesses performed better than, or in-line with, their main end markets.”

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