Revenues fall more than 37% at steel group as pandemic takes its toll
Wombwell-based listed steel group, Billington Holdings has seen its revenues drop by 37.1% to £66m (2019: £104.9m) in its audited results for the year ended 31 December 2020.
The business says the decrease is due to both the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with its completion of a number of large projects in 2019.
It also reports its pre-tax profits falling 71.2% to £1.7m (2019: £5.9m), but records a strong cash balance of £15.1m (31 December 2019: £17.9m) at the year end with an average gross cash balance of £15.3m (2019: £10.7m) throughout 2020.
Billington adds its order book for structural steel activities was 75% higher at the year end relative to 31 December 2019.
It notes the current market outlook remains competitive as a result of the continuing impact of COVID-19, but says significant contracts have been secured for 2021, with a good pipeline of future opportunities.
Mark Smith, chief executive officer, said: “After a strong year for the Group in 2019, as for everyone, 2020 was dominated by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Billington entered the year in a strong position to navigate the turbulent environment and remains a profitable and major supplier to the structural steel and safety solutions markets.
“The major disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the first half of 2020 and through the summer months did subside and we enjoyed a return to more normal trading conditions in the later part of the year, which has continued into 2021.
“We have a strong order book for the remainder of 2021 and our facilities are operating at full utilisation.
“However, the market remains very competitive and continued price escalation and the availability of some raw materials remains a concern.
“Our strong partner relationships combined with strong controls and mechanisms ensures the Group is able to substantially mitigate these headwinds, although we believe it will be a relatively slow road for margins to fully recover to pre-pandemic levels.
“Billington is a robust business, with good market positions and a committed workforce. As we emerge from the pandemic the outlook for Billington is encouraging and I look forward to the future with cautious optimism.”
