Goodwin bridges revenue gap

Announcing its financial results for the year to 30 April, the Stoke-on-Trent based group said the companies in its Refractory Division – which operate in the UK, India, Thailand, Brazil and China, and supply moulding consumables and machinery to the jewellery investment casters – significantly improved their profitability in the face of difficult world trading conditions. The Engineering Division reported reduced profits having adopted a policy of conserving the work load to protect its skill base but orders had recovered in the second half. Chairman John Goodwin reported that by the end of the first half of the financial year the Board, with a greater level of confidence that the Group's financial performance was not going to be damaged by the global recession, embarked on an internally financed £4 million capital expenditure programme including, in the UK, the ordering of its largest CNC machine tool to date to serve a growing demand for larger engineering components. Work in progress included two large machined casting contracts for the Oakland Bridge in California and the Hardanger Bridge in Norway and the group was now focusing on obtaining orders for engineering products with a higher weight range of up to 25 tonnes. The workload for current orders remained the same as it was 12 months ago (approximately 6 months of workload) and new order potential seemed more positive due to a rise in enquiries and signs that more capital projects were being released in the energy sector, Goodwin said. Pre-tax profits for the year were £13.3 million (2009: £13.1 million) on revenue of £93.9 million (2009: £100.7 million).