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Bodycote Thursday 27 May 2021 Bodycote plc Trading Update Bodycote , the world's leading provider of heat treatment and specialist thermal processing services , issues a trading update covering the four - month period from 1 January to 30 April 2021 ( " the period " ) , ahead of the Company's 68th Annual General Meeting , which will be held at 12.00pm today . Trading Total Group revenue for the period was £ 208m ( down 2 % at constant currency and 4 % at actual rates ) . As expected , our two businesses experienced contrasting trading conditions . AGI revenues , at £ 128m , were 5 % up on last year in the period ( 7 % at constant currency ) , while ADE revenues , at £ 80m , were 16 % lower than last year ( 12 % lower at constant currency , but 22 % lower on an organic basis ) . The following review of the Group's revenues by end market quotes all movements based on growth against the same period in 2020 , at constant currency : Automotive revenues have recovered strongly across all geographies with growth of 19 % in the period . Indeed , we even registered growth in January and February which in the prior year were barely impacted by the pandemic . The shape of the business for the remainder of the year is still emerging and will depend in part on the pace of resolution of the global chip shortage , which is impacting parts of our business . General industrial revenues were up 1 % , with revenue levels continuing to improve quarter by quarter as industrial production recovers . Aerospace & defence revenues were 19 % lower ( 35 % lower on an organic basis ) as the civil aerospace business remains subdued . The news flow from the OEMs is moving in a positive direction with production rates improving for narrow - body aircraft as well as some pick up in flying hours for wide - body aircraft . This is leading to some very early signs of pick up in our business , although , with surplus inventory levels persisting in the supply chain for specific platforms , it is too early to tell if this will develop into a sustained improvement in revenue levels . Energy now only represents 7 % of Group revenues and were 21 % lower , reflecting a substantial drop - off in both onshore and offshore business in reaction to the significant fall in demand driven by the pandemic . The recovery in oil prices in recent months has yet to materialise in greater demand for our oil and gas businesses .