Brammer well equipped for growth after strong year
BRAMMER, the North West industrial parts and tool distributor, has hailed a “successful and significant year” as sales and profits surged.
The pan-European group said revenues in 2012 rose 11.9% to a record £639.6m, driven by 16% growth in the UK, which compensated for a 4.4% fall in Europe.
Operating profit before amortisation and exceptionals increased by £5.4m to £37.2m and pre-execptional profits rose 19% from £29m to £34.5m.
In line with this strong performance, and optimism in the group’s future prospects Brammer hiked its final dividend by 12.3% to to 6.4p per share, taking the total for 2012 to 9.4p, up 11.9%.
Chief executive Ian Fraser said: “Driven by the provision of exceptional value and service to our customers, coupled with continued investment in our long term growth strategy, 2012 was a successful and significant year for Brammer.
“The group has produced substantially increased sales and profits and the acquisition of Buck & Hickman has exceeded our original expectations.
“We believe this performance again demonstrates the consistent and successful application of our proven long term strategy and the strength of our management team.”
Looking ahead Mr Fraser expects 2013 to be “another economically challenging year”, but that Brammer will be able to out-perform the market.
“Our confidence in the outlook for the business is reflected by the dividend increase,” he added.
Brammer, which has a presence in 16 countries, said it had seen strong sales growth in the food and drink sector (+7.7%) to £71m, pulp and paper (+13.2%) and utilities (+10.8%) to £20.8m.
The company acquired 180-year old Coventry company Buck & Hickman for £27m in late 2011. It is a distributor of tools, maintenance and health & safety products and owns the Roebuck tool brand.
