Profits cut in half at £70m manufacturer

Air filter manufacturer Donaldson Filter Components has seen revenues and profitability decline in the past year.

The Hull-based company, which is owned by a multinational based in the US, saw turnover decrease marginally to £73.4m for the year to July 2016, from £76.1m.

However Donaldson’s performance decline was more clearly highlighted by its pre-tax profit drop, which fell be more than half that in the same period ending in 2015.

Pre-tax profits reduced from £7.9m in 2015 to £3.7m.

A decline in European business hit the firm during the year. A better performance in the rest of the world nearly made up for this, but not quite.

Donaldson employs just over 300 people from its base in Hull. Its parent company Donaldson Company Inc was founded in the US in 1915, and since then has grown to 140 locations across the globe. It says it invests $50m in research and development across the group annually.