‘Disappointing’ performance at Redhall

Wakefield-headquartered manufacturing firm Redhall Group has moved further into the red after being impacted by the timing of contract works and programme delays.

Reporting on the six months to March 31, the group made pre-tax losses of £2.5m on revenues of £14.4m. For the same period last year, Redhall reported pre-tax losses of £180,000 on revenues of £18.9m.

However, it said its order book had grown strongly to £37m (December 2017: £32m), excluding an £18m framework agreement won by Jordan Manufacturing for Sellafield. It was also awarded a major contract in a nuclear new build for Hinkley Point C.

Wayne Pearson, who was appointed chief executive in April after eight months as the firm’s chief operating officer, said: “Whilst the first half financial performance was disappointing, we anticipate a significant improvement in the second half of the current financial year driven by increased volume and improved margins as we start to enjoy the benefits of our business transformation efforts.”

Pearson said improvements across a number of areas of the business were being made, adding: “However, there is much work to be done and I expect this to be the key focus for the business in the near term. We expect to deliver long term growth through strong market demand and gaining market share as our focus on operational excellence delivers a more efficient business with a more competitive cost base.”

The firm delivers high integrity manufactured products and services into complex, secure and hazardous environments.

The growth in orders, said Redhall, had been driven predominantly by customer orders to manufacture goods for the nuclear market. Pearson said: “This is particularly pleasing as products for the nuclear market tend to be highly engineered and therefore have higher value added content. Behind this order book is a substantial pipeline of projects for which we have already submitted bids.”

Martyn Everett, chairman of Redhall, added: “Our order book and pipeline provide us with confidence for the Group’s future as a leading player in our core nuclear defence, decommissioning and new build markets. We also see strong demand for our food process manufacturing and installation and mobile networks businesses.

“We remain focused on winning work in these sectors, and in other key infrastructure markets, with the objective of returning Redhall to meaningful levels of profitability.”