City Briefs: Solid State; Tandem Group
Solid State, the Redditch-based technology manufacturing business, has reported a strong half year despite supply chain headwinds.
For the six months to the end of September, the company saw revenue and adjusted profit before tax rise 19.0% and 28.2% respectively.
Revenue came in at £39.4m, up from £33.1m, while adjusted profit before tax was £3.27m, rising from £2.55m in the prior year period.
The company says it has a record open order book at 30 November 2021 of £70.3m, up 14.3% on 30 September 2021 of £61.5m, and up 70% on the year end figure of £41.3m at 31 March 2021.
Nigel Rogers, chairman of Solid State, said: “Our half year results are particularly pleasing given the widely reported challenges in the global supply chain and more local pressures in staffing and the foreign exchange headwinds at a revenue level.
“The successful acquisition programme has added resilience and opened up opportunities to grow the business in targeted regions and industry sectors. We continue to see acquisitions as a pillar of our growth strategy.
“Group-wide we have worked closely with customers and suppliers in response to the rebound in the economy. This is evident in the order flow and the strong open order book, which gives the board confidence in meeting expectations for the full year.”
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Birmingham-based Tandem Group, the sports equipment manufacturer, said this morning it is expecting the green light shortly for the development of an additional 80,000 sq ft of purpose built warehouse space.
In April, the company announced it had purchased more than three acres of land to increase its distribution capabilities.
The new site is adjacent to the group’s current HQ in Castle Bromwich.
The company said: “Our warehouse project continues to progress well. The site has been cleared, main contractor appointed, certain materials ordered and work scheduled. We have addressed the pre-commencement planning conditions in advance of planning consent and we expect to receive formal planning permission shortly.”
Meanwhile, updating the markets on its trading performance to the end of November, the company said its expects profitability for the full year to be in line with or slightly ahead of current market expectations.
“In our interim results announcement in September 2021 we reported that revenue to 30 June 2021 was approximately 14% ahead of the same period in the previous year. This position improved in quarter three to 30 September 2021 with revenues 17% ahead of the prior year,” Tandem said.
“Quarter four to 30 November 2021 has since seen revenues broadly flat across the group when compared to the first two months of quarter four 2020, principally as a result of the comparative period in 2020 being particularly strong.”
The company said quarter four 2021 to date has seen a robust performance from its toys, sports & leisure business with a number of licences including Peppa Pig, Paw Patrol, Spider-Man and Batman ahead of the prior year. Disney Princess, Barbie and Nerf have also grown strongly and its own brands, including Stunted, Hedstrom, Kickmaster and uMoVe were all ahead of the prior year.
“We look forward to updating shareholders further in January 2022, following the Christmas trading period,” the group added.
