TT electronics says restructuring has provided ‘solid platform’ for growth

Reporting on the company's 2009 performance, chief executive Geraint Anderson said 2009 had been a year of change for TT electronics. "The restructuring programme has significantly reduced our cost base and we have made good progress in positioning the core components and sensors divisions in markets offering opportunities for higher growth and improved margins. We believe that the implementation of the actions identified in the Strategic Review will provide the Group with a solid platform for sustainable growth. "While trading conditions were difficult throughout most of 2009, an improvement in the fourth quarter has continued into the first two months of 2010. There is now greater visibility in certain markets for the first half of the year with the Group tracking slightly ahead of our previous expectations." TT said that much of its restructuring which resulted in the loss of 1,507 jobs – nearly 20% of the global workforce – between June 2008 and December 2009 was now complete with the remaining activity being implemented in the first few months of 2010. For the year ended 31 December 2009, the group's revenue was £499.6 million (2008: £584.3m), down 14.5%t, producing a pre-tax profit of £0.8 million compared with £21.1 million in 2008. Closure costs and redundancies cost £14.2 million but are reckoned to save £31 million a year. Chairman John Newman who, at 65, is stepping down, said he was confident that the actions the company had taken in 2009, together with those underway, would enable TT electronics to improve its performance.