Steady demand boosts business at Cosalt
CRITICAL safety equipment company Cosalt said today business had been boosted by more than 50% but the outlook for its holiday homes division looked less positive.
In an interim management statement for the period from April 28 to September 17 Grimsby-based Cosalt said that turnover in the safety and protection business increased by 51% over the comparable period in 2007.
Cosalt said business had mainly been boosted by the acquisition of Aberdeen-based lifting and inspection specialist GTC in 2007.
Cosalt’s holiday homes business revealed a less positive picture – the group said it expects to “be able to announce the details of its exit from this business shortly and is pursuing a number of options to achieve this”.
Cosalt – which manufactures and supplies static caravans and holiday homes – said the industry was experiencing very challenging conditions and trading had deteriorated further in the second half of the year.
Cosalt provides critical safety equipment for the marine industry including the life raft, life boat, life jacket, fire safety and lifting and inspection sectors.
Following a number of board changes – Cosalt chief executive Per Jonsson resgned in May – the group has restructured into two customer focused divisions; marine and offshore oil and gas.
Each divison now has its own management team to support the need to meet increasing legislation in those areas of operation.
The group said it had benefited from its strong position in the North Sea with extensions to existing agreements for the supply of marine safety equipment with a number of operators including BP and the extension of the offshore oil and gas division’s operations following the award of a contract with Perenco to supply lifting and inspection services in the Southern North Sea.
The offshore oil and gas division’s contract with Exxon Mobil for the supply and inspection of lifting equipment has been extended to their Norwegian operations following the acquisition of Myhre earlier this year.
Looking ahead the group said it continues to make excellent progress in its core safety and protection business where it has a market leading position in the regions in which it operates.
Chief executive Mark Lejman said: “The group’s development will continue to be driven by both organic growth and acquisitions in the Marine and Offshore Oil and Gas divisions. The group’s key strategic objectives remain to broaden the existing product range and to expand the group’s geographic coverage.”
