Steady trend continues for castings group

A West Midlands foundry company has continued to receive a steady flow of business following the end of its financial year, shareholders will be told today.

Brian Cooke, chairman of Brownhills-based Castings, will tell the company’s AGM today that the situation remains consistent with the outlook he reported in June.

“Our efforts remain focussed on developing work with both existing and new customers, with a concentration on core business that can be produced and machined within the group,” he will say in his AGM statement.

“We continue to invest in production techniques and technologies to improve our productivity and profitability.”

Back in June, the group announced that full year revenues had decreased by 10.3% to £118.8m (2016: £132.4m), of which 72% was exported (2016: 67%). The ending of a major automotive supply contract at the end of the previous year had impacted sales.

Group operating profit for the year was £15.7m (2016: £19.5m), which represented a return on sales of 13.2% (2016: 14.7%). Pre-tax profit decreased to £15.9m from £19.7m.

His AGM statement echoes the comments he made in the in his full report, which said the company was putting every effort into developing new work with both existing and new customers.

The focus would remain on the core business that could be produced and machined within the group, he added.

He also said that the sooner the Government could formalise a Brexit settlement then the happier business would be.