Cropper lifted by positive first quarter
SPECIALIST paper and materials group James Cropper says it traded profitably in the first quarter of its new financial year and will avoid having to make compulsory redundancies in its UK business.
The Kendal-based group is cutting around 40 jobs in its loss-making Speciality Papers business in a bid to reduce operating costs by £1m a year.
In the year to the end of March the company saw both sales and profits squeezed by trading and currency issues.
Speaking at the group’s annual meeting, chairman Mark Cropper said the company’s Technical Fibre Products business had had a stong first quarter, with demand from the aerospace, defence and energy sectors.
He said overall sales in the unit are up 23% on the comparable period last year, with sales into the US up 40%.
The Converting divsion has also made a positive start, with sales up 19% on Q1 2011 thanks to a bounce back in sales volumes into the art & framing and sign & display sectors.
Mr Cropper said the Speciality Papers arm s still having a tough time with sales in the opening quarter down 9% on the comparable period.
“The economic uncertainty, which led to the loss of confidence amongst customers in many export paper markets in the second half of last year, shows no immediate sign of lifting. In the home market we have been successful in winning some business in new areas which has helped to fill the capacity gap.”
Referring to the cost cutting programme, he said: “Our plans to reduce the size of the group’s UK workforce by 8% during the course of 2012 are on-track and I am pleased to say that it will not be necessary to make any compulsory redundancies.”
Lookign ahead he added: ” “The recovery of TFP and Converting in the first quarter is very pleasing. In turn, the profitability of Speciality Papers is expected to improve over the coming year as a consequence of recent investments and the restructuring process.”
“Despite the troubled economic climate there are a number of significant opportunities within our reach. I am confident that we have the resources and means of seizing these.”
