Weir Group has this morning reinstated its dividend after what the engineering group hailed as a “strong performance” over the first half of the year.

The FTSE 100 firm said that it would pay out a dividend of 11.5p per share for the period, having cancelled such returns due to the pandemic.

The announcement came after the company increased its profit from £137m to £143m over the first half, while revenue slipped from £910m to £900m.

Weir also saw its orders increased 17 per cent, rising from £934m to £1.09bn.

It said that the boom in mining activity due to increase demand for raw materials had boosted its mining equipment supply division.

New equipment orders were up 57 per cent over the period as miners sought to take advantage of record commodities prices.

For the full year, Weir added that it was on track to deliver growth in line with its expectations.

Chief executive Jon Stanton said: “We’ve had a good start to the year with excellent execution across the business delivering a strong performance despite ongoing challenges due to the Covid pandemic.

“Structural demand for clean energy metals is creating a multi-decade growth opportunity for our business as the mining industry invests in expanding capacity while reducing its environmental impact.

“Our project pipeline continues to grow, particularly for more sustainable solutions, and we are pleased to be resuming the dividend, reflecting our confidence in our strategy and future prospects.”