Engineering group Calder shows its mettle

CALDER Group, the pan-European metals and engineering group which is headquartered in Chester, has reported a surge in sales and profits.

The Swiss-owned group, which is supplies the aerospace, construction, nuclear and oil & gas sectors, operates nine subsidiaries in five countries, including Chester-based Calder Industrial Materials, Yorkshire’s Leeds Bronze Engineering, and Midland Aerospace of Nottingham.

Sales in the year to the end of May 2011 rose 16% to €187.9m and operating profits rose 22% from €9.2m to €11.3m. Bottom line profits, after a €2m charge relating to loan arrangement fees, nudged ahead to €5.8m from €5.6m the year before.
   
The company, which employs around 600 people, is privately owned and also has operations in Ireland, France, Germany and Holland.

In their review of trading the directors of parent company Calder Finco UK Ltd, said the lead sheet side of the business continued to see weak demand as a result of the depressed housing market in its key European markets.

In the lead engineering businesses, overall demand picked up during 2011, in line with “the gradual recovery of European manufacturing”, with the group’s expertise in radiation shielding proving to be a particular growth area.

In the specialist engineering division, group finance director Andrew Donald said  it had seen “strong recovery” in all its subsidiaries, and prospects are promising for this to continue.

“The divisional management team is confident of continuing strong recovery, fuelled by rising demand in the oil & gas, aerospace, nuclear power and other sectors.”

Assessing the outlook, Mr Donald, gives a bullish assessment. Writing on march 30 this year, he said: ” Although the global economic environment remains challenging, the directors are confident that our group is in excellent shape.

“It is soundly financed, it has proved itself to be resilient in a downturn, it is broadly-based and has strong positions in non-cyclical markets.

“Our investment budget is sufficient to finance both our immediate acquisition plans and continued improvements in manufacturing capability and capacity.”