Turnover improves for Castings

Turnover for Brownhills-based Castings increased by £1.1 million to £132.4 million for 2015-2016.

There was an increase in pre-tax profits to £19.7m for the year to the end of March compared to £17.5m last year.

The group's foundries enjoyed stable trading conditions throughout the year and increased profits compared with the previous year.

The Brownhills warehouse is being extended so that part of the existing building can be used for expansion of its machining business and this will be complete by the end of the calendar year.

A supplementary dividend of 30p per share is to be paid on July 22.

Chairman Brian Cooke said that customer demands were remaining steady and unless there was a substantial change it will only see a temporary reduction in profits due to the changing situation at CNC Speedwell.

He said that whatever the result of the EU referendum, the Government needs to return to the priority of focussing on the economy and recognising the important role of manufacturing in achieving higher levels of employment to the benefit of the country as a whole.

The foundry businesses experienced a slight reduction in output of 1.3 per cent to 52,000 tonnes but an increase in external sales revenue of 1.3 per cent to £114.7m.

Sales revenue was affected by the general reduction in raw material prices during the year.

The machining business generated total sales of £33.2m in the year compared to £31.4 million in the previous year.

The group invested £4.7 million during the year to accommodate new orders, many of which have not come into full production.