First quarter sales down at Scapa
TECHNICAL tape manufacturer Scapa has announced that its first quarter sales are 15% down on the previous year, with trading resulting in a small loss.
The Ashton-based company said the figures were a “welcome improvement” on the 20% fall in sales it saw in the second half of the previous financial year.
Automotive recovered significantly from the 50% year-on-year fall in last year’s fourth quarter (Q4) to be down 28% in the first quarter of this financial year.
Industrial Assembly, which represents over 40% of the business, also saw reduced falls in sales from a 19% reduction in Q4 to 14% in the first quarter of this year.
Although sales fell by around 15% across Europe and North America compared to the previous year, demand in Asia actually grew by around 5%.
The company added it has now closed its Bellegarde site in France, part of a cost cutting programme which resulted in senior staff being “boss-napped” for 24 hours by militant French workers, after the closure was announced in April.
It added that the full benefits of the closure, which led to more than 60 job losses, will be experienced in September, after quiet trading in August.
