ENGINEERING group Weir said its five-year plan to double profits remained on track – as it posted a 58% rise in full-year profits.

The group, which includes Weir Valves and Controls UK at Elland, posted profits of £295m and said it was confident of further growth in the current year.

Weir said it was well-placed to double 2009 profits by 2014 – with a record order book and a number of mining projects due to get under way in South America and Australia.

Post-tax profits for the year were £185.5m against £128.8m a year earlier.

Weir, which joined the FTSE 100 last September following a surge in its share price, employs 9,000 staff and works for customers including BP, BAE Systems and the Ministry of Defence.

Chief executive Keith Cochrane said Weir delivered an “exceptional” performance in 2010 as it responded to an improvement in its gas and oil markets.

Its minerals division reported increased production volumes, although its power and industrial sector remained subdued.

Orders in 2010 were 39% higher than a year earlier at £1.9bn, helping revenues rise by 18% to £1.6bn.

Bottom-line results included the cost of December’s fine and confiscation order made after Weir admitted two charges of breaching United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq before the 2003 invasion.

The money should have been used for humanitarian purposes to ease the suffering of the Iraqi people under the UN’s Oil For Food programme, but went to the dictatorship instead.

The company agreed to hand over its £13.9m profit from the business deals under a confiscation order, while the High Court in Edinburgh handed the company a fine of £3m.

The business involved was sold in 2007 and Weir said it incurred £1.7m of legal and professional fees.