GKN sees more growth this year after 2014 profits rise

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - British engineering company GKN reported a 4 percent rise in annual profit and said it expected to grow again this year, helped by the continued strong demand for car parts.

Pretax profit of 601 million pounds ($929 million) compared with the 578 million pounds it made last year, and a company-supplied consensus forecast of 589 million pounds from a poll of 19 analysts.

GKN (LSE: GKN.L - news) , which supplies components to car makers such as Volkswagen (LSE: 0P6N.L - news) and plane-makers Airbus and Boeing (NYSE: BA - news) , said that the rise in 2014 profits was due to its car parts sales outperforming market growth, and offsetting currency headwinds and lower sales to agricultural markets

"Although some markets remain challenging, 2015 is expected to be a year of further growth. Beyond 2015, we are well positioned to outperform in our large global markets," the company said in its statement on Tuesday. ($1 = 0.6471 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)