Fenner remains positive following "strong growth"
CONVEYOR belts to industrial seals manufacturer Fenner has witnessed “strong growth” over the last three months despite the continuing economic uncertainty.
The Hull-based company has also announced in an interim management statement that its revenue and underlying operating profit for the second quarter were “well ahead” of the comparable period in 2009.
The statement reveals that the company raised £36.3million through the placing of 17,302,233 shares in April and this enabled it to purchase US firm MRI Medical which makes silicone-based items for medical device companies earlier this month.
It is expected to make further purchases in the coming year.
Fennner’s outlook remains positive because over 75% of its revenues are generated in economies outside the UK and Europe.
The company states: “Trading in the advanced engineered products division has exceeded our expectations, with growth from the underlying recovery in industrial markets, particularly the US, supplemented by a re-stocking of supply chains in certain operations.
“Our seals business has benefited from good levels of demand from the oil and gas sector and improved order intake in the general hydraulic sector.
“Despite the continuing wider economic uncertainty, our other businesses in the division, focused on niche areas of expertise, have made solid progress and we are seeing new opportunities in both established and new territories.
“Our business development programme in our technical weaving business, which includes Secant Medical, has enhanced opportunities for generating new revenue streams organically and our acquisition in July 2010 of MRI Manufacturing and Research strengthens further our presence in supplying the medical device market.
“The conveyor belting division, which was largely unaffected by the economic downturn, has continued to perform well.
“Order flows continue to be encouraging and with trading comfortably meeting our expectations, we are confident in both the short and longer term outlook for the business.”
Fenner is a world leader in the field of reinforced polymer engineering, producing conveyor belting for the mining, power generation and industrial markets and sealing products for the mining, hydraulics and energy industries; and technical textile structures for medical and industrial applications.
For the six months to February 28, the Hessle-based business saw pre-tax profits jump from £600,000 over the same period last year to £12.1m this time.
