Rotork (www.rotork.com) has reported a fall in revenues and pre-tax profits in its half-year results, following a slowdown in the oil and gas sector and “challenging” trading conditions.

According to the Bath-based manufacturer’s results for the six months to 30 June, revenues fell to £263.9 million (from £274.2 million in the same period of 2015). Profit before tax also fell, to £38.3 million (from £56.3 million).

Chief executive Peter France said: “The trading environment in the first half of the year remained challenging, with the low oil price continuing to delay project activity and geo-political tensions affecting certain key markets. Our cost-management programme, previously announced, is progressing as planned.

“We now expect our second-half weighting to be more pronounced than previously indicated, in part due to recent currency movements, with the second-half margins ahead of those in the first half. We anticipate that activity in the oil and gas markets will remain subdued, and the timing of order placement will be difficult to forecast.”