Engineering company’s revenue hits £227m
Manchester engineering company Bodycote is reporting year-on-year revenue growth of 18% to £227m in the first four months of 2017.
Ahead of the listed company’s annual meeting today (Wednesday, May 17), it said like-for-like sales were higher by 3.9%.
Automotive and general industrial business turnover increased by 23.2% (11.8% at constant exchange rates).
Its civil aviation performance was higher by 3.8% year-on-year, as the company continued to witness good growth in Western Europe.
However, weak revenues from the defence sector and lower revenues from the oil and gas sector – where sales were still declining in the comparative period in 2016 – substantially offset this growth.
Car and light truck revenues increased by 7.9%, with strong growth in Europe and its emerging Markets.
Meanwhile, heavy truck and bus turnover has yet to rebound and showed a small decrease in revenues in the period, Bodycote said.
General industrial revenues were 7.6% higher, the first positive growth seen in the segment for nearly three years. The recovery is predominantly being experienced in Europe, with limited North American growth so far.
Net cash as at April 30, 2017 was £10.6m, compared to net cash of £1.1m at December 31, 2016 and represents a relatively strong cash flow for the period, as the company controlled costs and managed working capital flows well.
The 2016 final dividend of 10.8p per share will be paid on June 2, at a total cost of £20.5m.
A company statement said: “Bodycote’s performance in the first four months of the year has been robust and in line with the board’s expectations. Accordingly, the group’s outlook for the year as a whole remains unchanged.”
