Melrose, winner of a bruising battle for engineering giant GKN, said a shake-up of the target’s troublesome US aeroplane parts arm was working.
Overvalued spare parts had caused a big GKN writedown a year ago, which ultimately triggered Melrose’s bid for the firm, but margins and performance have improved due to an “incentivised management team”.
The division’s third quarter revenue growth was 6% against 1% in the first half.
Results for the car parts and powder metallurgy divisions, which are big suppliers to the car industry, also soothed investor concerns about a slowdown in the motor sector.
Melrose shares have been weak due to fears that sluggish car markets could harm Melrose's turnaround plan.
Automotive revenues were flat and powder metallurgy sales up 9%.
Melrose was upbeat about changes made to the automotive business, which includes hiring a new chief executive Liam Butterworth to run the business.
