Strong sales of luxury cars in China helped car and plane parts maker GKN to a 15% jump in profits for 2011.
The group, which numbers BMW, Audi and Volkswagen among its biggest customers, hiked its full-year dividend by a fifth to 6p a share, as sales increased by 13%.
Pre-tax profits at the maker of products such as driveshafts, chassis and axles came in at £417 million.
GKN chief executive Nigel Stein said: "Demand for premium autos remains strong and we feel that will be the case in 2012.
"China is the biggest driver of that but North America has come back strongly too. Global car pro-duction should rise about 5% this year and we expect to deliver more growth on the back of that," he added.
Sales at GKN's car business, which accounts for about two thirds of group revenues, increased by 10% to £2.68 billion.
GKN, which also makes airframes for Airbus and Boeing, said its aerospace unit increased sales
by 4%.
The shares fell 4%, or 9.6p to 222p, as investors took profits following a 13% jump in the past month.
Analysts expect GKN to continue to benefit from strong demand for luxury cars this year, with BMW forecasting the global market for premium cars will rise by 8%, more than twice as fast as the overall car market.
