Wotton-under-Edge engineering firm Renishaw reports £4m drop in profits (From Gazette Series)

Wotton-under-Edge engineering firm Renishaw reports £4m drop in profits

12:39pm Thursday 26th January 2012 in News By Liza-Jane Gillespie

RENISHAW has reported a £4 million drop in profits despite an increase in revenue.

The Wotton-under-Edge based precision engineering firm reported the 11 per cent drop in profit as part of its half-year report.

According to the report Renishaw’s profit before tax for the six months ended December 31 2011 was £31.2 million down from £35.2 million for the same period the year before.

The company has accredited the drop to continued investment in staff and infrastructure. During 2011 Renishaw recruited 421 new staff taking its number of employees up to 2,701.

The company has also set up operations in Mexico, and expanded premises in Germany, Brazil, China and the USA spending £17.8 million on property and equipment between July and December last year.

However, in the interim report Renishaw was able to boast that revenue for the six months ended December 31 was up 11 per cent on the same period the year before from £132.2 million to £147.1 million.

Despite the Euro crisis that has impacted on the global economy Renishaw has seen revenue in Europe increase by 25 per cent, and a 23 per cent growth in revenue in the Americas.

In the Far East Renishaw experienced a 12 per cent growth in Japan but a 17 per cent fall in the rest of the Far East including China because of a slow down in micro-electronic and opto-electronic markets.

In his chairman’s statement Sir David McMurtry, who is also chief executive, said: "The directors would like to thank the Group’s employees for their continuing support and significant contribution during these turbulent times."

He added: "The outlook for continuing global investment for production systems in automotive, civil aviation, agriculture and energy (including oil, gas and renewables) looks increasingly favourable. Furthermore, we anticipate a recovery in the important electronics sector.

"The Group is well-positioned to benefit from these structural growth trends as they should result in increasing demand for Renishaw’s systems and products. "Following restructuring within the healthcare business, we anticipate an improved performance going forward. We therefore remain focused on positioning the Group for further growth and view the future with great confidence."