Auto parts and distribution company Unipart, which has its headquarters in Cowley, has announced a three per cent increase in its share price.

Independent valuers say the shares are now worth 37p, up from 36p last year.

About 2,000 of Unipart's employees hold shares, owning about 50 per cent of the business.

The price of shares in the unquoted company, which employs about 11,000 people worldwide, including 1,100 at Cowley, is announced each year at the start of a formal share dealing period.

Shares in the company were worth 42p in November 2000 and hit a high of 108p in 1999.

Unipart director of corporate affairs Frank Nigriello said that the entire automotive sector was experiencing hard times but that Unipart had fared comparatively well by diversifying into such areas as rail and health.

He added: "Less than half our turnover now comes from the automotive business."

The increase in share price comes at a time when many competitors are seeing their stock fall. The FTSE index has fallen 20 per cent in the past year with the automotive sector down 19 per cent.

Mr Nigriello pointed out that Unipart competitor GKN had seen its shares tumble 26 per cent on the London Stock Exchange. Rival Tibbett & Britten Group's shares had fallen 34 per cent.

He was cautiously optimistic about jobs at Unipart. He said the company employed about 30 more people at its Cowley plant than it did this time last year.

He added that the group, which makes only about 10 per cent of its £1.5bn turnover from manufacturing, is highly diversified and undergoing a process of continual restructuring.