Hornby puts Airfix back on its feet

Announcing Hornby’s results for the year to 31 March today, chief executive Frank Martin said: "This has been another excellent year of growth for Hornby. Since buying Airfix in November 2006, we have carried out our detailed plan to re-invigorate the business. Airfix is now well and truly back on its feet. We are delighted that it has delivered a performance that is well ahead of our expectations.” During the year, turnover was up 19% to £55.7 million (2007: £46.8m) while pre-tax profits rose 17% to £9 million (2007: £7.7m). Martin said the company’s strategy to build a broader base of product ranges selling in more countries was well on target. It had acquired a series of well known hobby brands that had responded well to fresh investment and active management. “Our team has the experience, innovative approach and track record to re-invigorate famous hobby brands successfully,” he said. He added that the group had also been delighted with its April acquisition of Corgi, the iconic die-cast model brand. “Our plans to re-launch the business are already well advanced. Corgi retailers and collectors are delighted that Hornby has taken over. We are confident that we will quickly rebuild sales, profits and market share. "Looking to the future, we have an exciting pipeline of products, including James Bond themed Scalextric sets. We continue to keep a close eye on the market for other brands that could strengthen our portfolio in the international hobby market. Despite the challenging market conditions, the Group is confident that it will continue to deliver further growth." Although Airfix and Scalextric sales showed good growth, sales of model railway products had been constrained to an extent by delays in new product supplies from China to Hornby’s European subsidiaries. “Steps have been taken to ensure that the engineering capacity available to us is matched more closely to our new product introduction programme,” said chairman Neil Johnson. On product development, which Hornby still undertakes in the UK, Johnson went on: “Our product development programme continues to be a key driver of our business and we have increased further our resources in this area, to cope with the additional demands of our subsidiaries and the increase in product categories. We have also increased our product development resources to reduce our design dependence on external sources. In so doing we expect to gain a greater degree of control over the timing of new product introductions, particularly for our European markets.”