Broadband demand boosts B3 Cables
THE parent company of north Manchester-based cable manufacturer B3 Cables reported a 29% increase in sales to £97.4m last year, fuelled partly by soaring copper prices.
Accounts for the year to October 31, 2010, also show a 64% increase in profits to £1.1m.
The company, which makes heavy-duty copper cabling used by telecoms infrastructure firms like BT, said that of the £20.3m increase in sales achieved during the year, some £12.1 can be attributed to higher copper prices, but £8.2m is due to higher like-for-like sales.
A directors’ report accompanying the firm’s accounts say this is “due to the start of investment in Next Generation Access networks to meet increasing consumer broadband requirements”.
Sales of cables to other industries fell by 10% when the impact of higher copper prices were stripped out, with the ongoing downturn in construction markets blamed for the lower volumes achieved.
B3 Cables is run by managing director Steve Ellis. The company was started ten years ago following the decision to US-based Belden Cables to close the former BICC Cables site at Blackley in north Manchester.
The site’s former managers teamed up with investment fund Aston Ventures to launch successful rescue bid, and a series of subsequent acquisitions saw them moving into markets across Europe, Asia and The Middle East.
A restructuring exercise was undertaken last year after it closed a lossmaking subsidiary in Ireland, which has led to exceptional costs of more than £400,000 being racked up over a two-year period, but overall the directors remain confident about the firm’s future prospects – particularly in its core telecoms market.
“The directors believe that the implementation of Next Generation Access Network strategies required to transform broadband to meet consumer demand will lead to a recovery in telecommunications cable volumes, which will make a significant contribution to future results.”
The company also completed a £43.1m refinancing last month, when it agreed a new asset finance facility with PNC Financial Services.
