Fasteners group Trifast targets Europe and Asia for growth
FASTENERS manufacturer Trifast has said its focus for the current financial year will be on building sales in markets across Europe and Asia.
The company, which has a presence in Birmingham, said it would also be seeking organic and non-organic growth in the United States.
In its latest full-year results, the company said: “In 2016 we have seen another year of strong trading, making this our sixth year of continuous growth.
“For us, Europe, Asia and the USA all remain key areas for growth both organically and non-organically. Our enquiry pipeline is strong, whilst our core organic strategy of focusing on our multinational OEMs looks set to continue to deliver growth.
“FY 2017 will be the first full year of trading from our latest acquisition, TR Kuhlmann, and we are already starting to see opportunities coming through as the result of us working together.”
On the manufacturing side, it said the investments being made to increase capacity and the focus it was putting on making better use of existing capacity, specifically in its Malaysian sites, were likely to start impacting positively on results in the next year and beyond.
“Our investment in the UK business, in to both senior sales resource and driving further operational efficiencies, is expected to continue to build on profitability in this region,” it added.
Mark Belton, CEO, said looking ahead there were some macroeconomic factors that was behind the group’s control, such as ongoing volatility in the foreign currency and raw material markets.
“However, building on the strong performance delivered last year and, with our geographical spread, balanced sector mix and our clear strategies for growth, the board is optimistic for the current year and the group’s longer term prospects,” he said.
By far the group’s biggest revenue growth in 2016 has been across its European businesses, where levels grew 24.9% to £57.8m. Non-organic growth drove 14% (£6.5m) of that increase, in conjunction with very strong organic growth of 10.9% from increased trading levels in its existing businesses.
In Asia, the overall trading position was said to be more stable, with an increase in organic revenues of 1.1% (£0.4m).
In Singapore, growth has been very strong at 9.4% (£1.1m) reflecting a significant growth in the domestic appliances sector sales. In contrast, it said its Malaysian operations had struggled against a backdrop of falling customer demand and domestic market weakness. This has led to a decrease in revenues of 8.3% (£0.9m).
In the UK, revenue decreased by 2% (£1.3m), reflecting a slight softening in demand from the half year. Trading in the US was in line with the prior year at £4.3m.
Pre-tax profit increased by 14.8% at constant currency rates to £16m.
