Chamberlin & Hill makes £1m losses

WALSALL foundry Chamberlin & Hill has announced a full year losses of more than £1m, blaming the difficult trading conditions for the decline in its business.

Despite the difficult year, the company said it was now looking to get back on track and signs were hopeful of a recovery in its markets.

In a stock exchange statement accompanying its full year results, the firm said it had seen an upturn in demand during the final quarter of 2009 and this had continued into 2010.

Revenues came in at £28.453m, which compares with £39.94m last year. The firm said the figure was around 40% below pre-recession levels.

The underlying operating loss came in at £0.923m, which compares with a profit of £0.46m this time last year.

However, the firm noted a strong recovery during the second half of the year with the recorded loss coming in at £0.288m compared with the first half figure of £0.635m – a 55% improvement.

The statutory operating loss came in at £1.05m, which compares with the £0.3m statutory loss recorded last year.

Reorganisation costs came in at £0.556m, which compares with £0.446m last year.

The firm said the cost base had been realigned but full technical and production capabilities had been maintained.

The underlying pre-tax loss of £1.056m compared with a pre-tax profit of £0.3m last year.The statutory pre-tax loss was £1.421m, which compares with a loss last year of £0.5m

Not surprisingly chairman Tom Brown looked to concentrate on the positives.

He said: “The improvement in the group’s second half performance reflects the upturn in demand across all our businesses as the global economic backdrop has improved.  More specifically, the group has secured new business in the turbocharger market, requiring specialist technical manufacturing capability, and this should help to underpin Chamberlin’s continuing recovery. 
 
“With recovery now widely established across Chamberlin businesses, production capacity fully intact and the cost base of the group at a lower level, we anticipate a significantly better year than the last and are positive on prospects for the group’s return to profitability in the new financial year.”

He said the board remained committed to a policy of progressive dividends and was looking forward to returning to payments as market conditions continued to improve.