LONDON: A sharp increase in car production helped Britain's industrial sector grow again in April, though manufacturers in France and Sweden continued to reel from the slump in global trade, official figures showed yesterday.

Figures showed that industrial production in Britain rose by 0.3 percent between March and April. Analysts were expecting a slight 0.1 percent fall.

The picture was not as rosy in France, where industrial output slumped by a monthly rate of 1.4 percent, way ahead of analysts' expectations for only a 0.2 percent fall, largely because of big falls in energy and refining.