Luxfer hails ‘year of good progress’
LUXFER Group, the New York-listed, Salford-based high performance materials manufacturer has reported solid revenue and profit growth for 2012.
The company, which comprises two divisions, Elektron and Gas Cylinders, supplies a range of markets, varying from lightweight breathing apparatus for firefighters to magnesium alloys, powders, extrusions, plate and rolled sheet used in aerospace, automotive, defence, photo-engraving and medical applications.
It said revenue in 2012 had risen marginally from $510.8m to $511.6m, but excluding rare earth surcharges was up $30m at $471.1m.
Profit before tax rose 4.2% to $59.4m in the period.
Luxfer said 2012 had been a “year of good progress”, and it had delivered its best-ever trading profits.
It added: “As we reported in November 2012, two key markets: European automotive and US defence, are currently weak, as a result of both destocking and reduced end-market demand and given current uncertain economic conditions are likely to remain so for some time.
“These two markets mainly affect our Elektron division and will impact the contribution from the materials division until at least later in 2013, when European automotive demand may be expected to improve.”
The group also said it potentially faces a $1.5m hit as a result of the recent fall in the value of the pound against the dollar.
It said it expects trading profit to rise during 2013 thanks to the strong outlook for the Gas Cylinder market. It said though that operating profit in the first quarter of 2013 would be behind Q4 2012 by between $1m-$2m due to the “weak start” in the Elektron division.
Demand in the second quarter is expected to be much stronger and Luxfer is predicting operating profits in 2013 will rise between $4m to $7m.
