Profits fall at steel company
STEEL company William Hare has seen its annual profits fall by 9.3% to £3.9m, as the collapse of the construction sector has forced the engineering firm to reduce staff numbers.
Turnover for the Bury-based company was £166.7m for the year to the end of December 2008, up 10.9% on a turnover of £150.3m in 2007.
Despite the increase in turnover, pre-tax profit fell to £3.9m (2007: £4.3m), latest accounts show.
William Hare, which export and erects fabricated steelwork worldwide, reduced the number of employees by a total of 41 over the year to 579 people.
The biggest reduction was in manufacturing and installation, which saw staff numbers fall from 396 to 353. It saved around £520,000 on its annual payroll bill, which stood at £25.4m.
The company said it had continued to benefit from its strategy of targeted investment to facilitate growth in its core UK and overseas markets.
The directors’ report said: “The company’s future intentions are to maintain, further develop and selectively invest in capital and human resources, as required, to support growth across the same lines of business at reasonable margins.”
It added: “In light of the challenging global economic environment the directors will continue to proactively review and manage the cost base of the company via targeted efficiency savings.”
The company did not pay a dividend.
