Tomkins riding out downturn in US

Tomkins offers a wide range of engineering services

Engineering group Tomkins has said it still expects to meet its full-year targets, despite being hit by the sharp downturn in the US homebuilding market.

Tomkins, which makes everything from car parts to household air-conditioning units, said it was also being affected by the slowdown in US car sales.

Pre-tax profits for the three months to 30 September rose just 0.2% from a year earlier to £59.8m ($125.8m).

Third-quarter sales at the UK-based firm dropped by 3% to £750m.

"The third quarter saw a continuation of the themes seen in the first half... and results were affected by lower demand from automotive original equipment customers in North America and continued weakness in the US residential construction market," the company said.