Silver price fall boost Harman’s bottom line
HARMAN Technology , which makes and sells traditional black and white film used by photographers has reported a rebound in profits thanks to a fall in the price of silver – a key material in the manufacturing process.
The Cheshire company, which has more than 200 employees in Mobberley near Knutsford, celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2015. The business was created in 2005 by six former directors of Ilford Imaging which went into administration as the digital era caused a slump at the business. The founders named the new business after Alfred Harman, the founder of Ilford.
Newly-filed accounts for the company for 2013 showed a fall of around £500,000 in sales to £19.6m and a 10-fold surge in operating profits from £95,642 to £980,280.
Finance director Andy Taylor said: “The main reason for the increase in operating profit from the prior period was due to the reduction in silver price for the year. The latter fell from an average price per troy ounce of $31.15 in 2012 to $23.79 in 2013.”
The price of silver is significant because it is a key component in the manufacture of monochrome photographic material.
The company renewed its banking facilities with ABN-AMRO Commercial Finance in March and was using £1.9m of bank funding at the end of 2013, down nearly £600,000 on 2012.
Harman said it was continuing to innovate by investing in research and development in a bid to develop new income streams.
It is using its expertise in silver compounds in the medicinal arena, and is majority shareholder in a joint venture business called Cellect Biotech with an Israel-based company called Cellect Technologies, which is developing a cancer diagnostic tool.
