Leading Gloucestershire firm is hit by slump in global economy

One of Gloucestershire’s leading employers has seen its profits slip by £20m due to tough trading conditions.

Engineering firm Renishaw, which has its global headquarters in Wotton-under-Edge saw adjusted profit before tax fall by from £163m to £141m.

The precision engineering firm saw roughly flat revenues of  £688.6m over the last 12 months.

There was a one per cent in gross margin before engineering costs: employee pay inflation and reduction in production volumes (leading to a lower recovery of fixed overheads), which was partially offset by currency and price increases,

The company said it has a strong balance sheet with net cash and bank deposit balances of £206.4m, compared with £253.2m.

It invested £73.8m in capital expenditure, including the ongoing development of a production facility in Miskin, Wales.

William Lee, chief executive, said: “In challenging trading conditions, our performance demonstrates the resilience of our business model, and the hard work and dedication of our teams around the world.

“In a year when we saw a downturn in demand from one of our key sectors, we achieved good growth in systems sales, which is an area of strategic priority.

“We have seen a steady start to FY2024 and our order book remains solid. We continue to see positive trends for investment in low emission transportation, defence, additive manufacturing and robotics.

“Meanwhile, demand from semiconductor equipment suppliers for position encoders remains subdued. While the short-term macroeconomic picture remains unclear, we continue to manage costs prudently, we are implementing further price rises, and remain focused on improving our productivity.

“I’m confident in our strategy and the actions we’re taking to deliver sustainable long-term growth, including investments in people, infrastructure and product innovation.”