Castings PLC reported a sharp fall in half-year profit on Wednesday 11 November 2026, after a two-month power restriction at its William Lee foundry cut output and pushed up costs. Pre-tax profit for the six months to 30 September fell to £2.0 million, down from £5.0 million a year earlier, while revenue slipped to £85.9 million from £87.6 million, according to the company's regulatory announcement. ## Power cut squeezed the foundry Northern Powergrid cut the external power supply to the William Lee site by around 50% for two months after a faulty transformer failed. Full power was restored on 24 May 2026, but the group had to run premium-rate shifts and pay for express transport to protect customer supply, and those extra costs continued as it worked through a backlog of orders. The foundry segment's profit collapsed to £0.2 million from £4.0 million, with its margin falling to 0.3% from 4.6%. Output still rose 2.6% to 21,500 tonnes. ## Machining offset some of the damage CNC Speedwell, the group's machining arm, was the bright spot: revenue rose 3.0% to £15.7 million and profit increased to £1.4 million from £0.8 million. Underlying demand from heavy-truck makers, which account for about 70% of group revenue, improved during the period, with larger manufacturers pointing to a 10% rise in the European market in the first half of 2026. Management said it expects the full-year result to be in line with recently revised market expectations of £9.0 million in adjusted pre-tax profit. The interim dividend was held at 4.21p a share, payable on 8 January 2027. Shares in Castings rose more than 4% to around 279p in afternoon trading on Wednesday. Sources: [RNS half-year report](https://uk.advfn.com/stock-market/london/castings-CGS/share-news/Castings-PLC-Half-year-Financial-Report/99679444) and [TickStock](https://tickstock.io/a/rtQQNh4/castings-holds-full-year-guidance-despite-half-year-profit-drop).