ENGINEERING and contracting firm, Murray & Roberts, said it had won a R1bn five-year contract to supply castings for Ford’s new 1.3 and 1.6 litre RoCam engines. In the first phase of the contract, the foundries in Port Elizabeth, Brits and Cape Town will supply components for 55000 engines, rising to 180000 a year. The firm said the engines are for domestic and export markets. Murray & Roberts, which reported a loss of R571m in the last financial year, is disposing of non-core assets and currently hunting for a buyer for Alloy Wheels International. It said the deal with Ford would see the engineering firm investing R60m in its foundries, which are to produce the engine components. The group’s shares on the Johannesburg bourse jumped 10% on the news of the deal, before settling back to 370 cents, an increase of 5.71%. The bulk of this investment would go into a new Gemtec aluminium smelter in Port Elizabeth, the group said. – Reuters