Shares of Bodycote, the Macclesfield-based heat treatment and thermal processing giant, rose as much as 13% after the firm published half-year results and extended its share buyback programme by a further £30 million to £120 million.

Bodycote said group revenue fell 7.5% to £369 million in the period. Profit before tax rose to £36.6 million from £26.2 million.

In its outlook, Bodycote said: “Our full year guidance is unchanged and is in line with market expectations.

“While the macro environment remains uncertain, we expect higher profit in the second half underpinned by Optimise benefits, continued recovery in Aerospace, and improved Specialist Technologies performance as we trade new contract wins.

“Our focus continues to be on controlling costs and executing on our strategy as we transition Bodycote into a higher quality, more resilient and faster growing business. We remain confident in delivering our medium term financial targets.”

Bodycote CEO Jim Fairbairn said:“Trading has been in line with our expectations following our May update.

“Demand is strong in industrial gas turbines, as well as in Aerospace and Defence where supply chain conditions are improving. Automotive and Industrial markets remain weak but saw modest improvement versus a soft second half of 2024.

“We made significant progress on our Optimise, Perform & Grow strategy in the period. On Optimise, we are executing well on the original programme and expect execution costs to be lower than previously estimated.

“Due to this increased confidence in execution, as well as ongoing challenges in certain end markets, we have expanded the scope of the programme with additional sites and overhead actions.

“We have also entered into a contractual process to dispose of a package of Automotive and Industrial sites in France for around £20m in cash proceeds, helping to reduce programme costs. As a result of these changes, the programme will now deliver an increased annual profit benefit of at least £15m at a materially lower net cost of £10-15m.We also continue to deliver on Perform and Grow.

“In Perform, we are rolling out service quality initiatives which are demonstrating tangible early benefits. In Grow, we are investing in our target areas at the same time as improving our sales capability and service offering, which will help to drive an acceleration in our future growth.

“We have also made significant progress on sustainability, both to reduce our own emissions and improve our customer offering.Our full year guidance is unchanged and is in line with market expectations.

“While the macro environment remains uncertain, we expect higher profit in the second half underpinned by Optimise benefits, continued recovery in Aerospace, and improved Specialist Technologies performance as we deliver new contract wins.

“Our focus continues to be on controlling costs and executing on our strategy as we transition Bodycote into a higher quality, more resilient and faster growing business. We remain confident in delivering our medium term financial targets.”