Fenner sees 2015 EPS moderately below expectations

March 12 (Reuters) - Fenner Plc (LSE: FENR.L - news) , hit by a slowdown in the global mining industry, said it expected underlying earnings per share for 2015 to be moderately below expectations due to a sharp fall in demand.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) of the company fell as much as 7 percent in early trade and were among the top percentage losers on the London Stock Exchange on Thursday.

The maker of conveyor belts said it was undertaking cost cuts at both its units - Engineered Conveyor Solutions and Advanced Engineering Products (AEP) - which would result in an exceptional charge in the first half of the year.

The AEP division, which serves the oil and gas industry and now contributes more than half of Fenner's operating profit, has seen a sharp decline in orders, the company said.

Fenner, based in Hessle, East Yorkshire, generates 97 percent of its revenue outside the UK and about 50 percent in the United States.

The stock was down 5.7 percent at 189 pence at 0824 GMT. (Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Anupama Dwivedi)