Millbrook Scientific moves into profit

NORTH West technology company Millbrook Scientific Instruments moved into profit in the six months September 30 as it saw the benefits of moving to a new site.

The Blackburn company, which is listed on AIM and designs and manufactures innovative scientific instruments that measure the properties of thin films and coatings, said revenues in the half year rose from £1m to £1.3m, while it made an operating profit of £28,162 compared with a loss of £113,021 in the same period last year.

Millbrook, whose customers include the likes of Corus, Daimler Chrysler, General Motors, Kodak, LG Philips, Pfizer, Pilkington and Siemens, said the new site at Wrexham had been key to the improvement.

Chairman Stephen Blank said: “During the period under review, sales and orders of our NanoTest instrument have progressed satisfactorily. Continued steady growth is anticipated now that the constraints of space at the previous facility in Wrexham have been removed.”

Looking ahead, Millbrook said its order book stands at £2.4m and that it was not seeing any weakening of demand as a result of the recession. It said the weakness of the pound was “generally beneficial” to its sales.