GKN 
By LONDON (Reuters) - British engineer GKN (>> GKN plc) reported a 22 percent jump in quarterly profit, helped by higher light vehicle production and a buoyant aerospace market, as it flagged growth would be more modest later this year due to tougher comparatives.
The company, which makes parts for cars and planes, on Tuesday posted pretax profit of 145 million pounds ($242.7 million) in the first quarter, 22 percent higher than the 119 million pounds it made in the same period last year.
GKN said currency headwinds, on which it warned in February, continued to affect it in the three months to end of March. Group sales were 7 percent higher on an organic basis but were offset by a 6 percent adverse currency translation due to the strength of the pound against other currencies.
Sales in GKN's car parts division, its largest unit which accounts for almost half of group revenues and whose customers include Volkswagen (>> Volkswagen AG), General Motors (>> General Motors Company) and Ford (>> Ford Motor Company), rose 5 percent in the period, in line with the growth rate in global light vehicle production.
"Looking forward to the rest of the year, tougher prior year comparators mean that organic growth is likely to be more modest," GKN's chief executive Nigel Stein said in a statement.
Last year, GKN's first quarter performance was hit by a 23 million pound restructuring charge related to job cuts in Europe and Japan.
Stein said he expected 2014 to be another year of growth, and that the outlook remained consistent with GKN's view in February, when it said its car parts business would grow faster than the anticipated 3 percent market expansion.
Shares in GKN closed at 374 pence on Monday, valuing the company at about 6.7 billion pounds.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle and Li-mei Hoang)
