Shares in Cookson slide as much as 18 percent to a year low andlead FTSE mid-cap fallers after the group warns on full-year profits dueto tough trading at its ceramics division.
The stock is the most heavily traded of the mid-caps, at nearly 3-1/2 timesits 90-day daily average after the opening two hours, against 15 percent for thebroader index.
The unit is suffering from a downturn in global steel production, a slowdownin its foundry castings end markets, such as heavy trucks and wind turbines, anda very depressed solar industry.
Morgan Crucible , which also makes industrial ceramics, was dragged8 percent lower.
Oriel Securities analyst Harry Philips takes his full-year operating profitforecast down to 255 million pounds ($412.92 million), from his current 284million pounds, which drops through to pretax profit of 228 million pounds.
Analysts had been expecting headline pretax profit of 248 million pounds,according a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey.
"Not great but not a repeat of 2008," Philips says. "In a patchyenvironment, there will be pluses and minuses and this is evident withinCookson's own portfolio today."
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