Express & Star

Gestamp profits and sales grow

Car parts manufacturer Gestamp, which has opened a major new factory at Four Ashes, near Wolverhampton, is celebrating strong growth in sales and profits during last year.

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Gestamp's new 540,000 sq ft factory at Four Ashes

Spanish group Gestamp saw revenue grow 4.2 per cent to £7.33 billion.

Earnings before tax were up 7.9 per cent to £824.5 million.

Gestamp opened six new production facilities in 2018 including the new Staffordshire site which is replacing the old factory in Wolverhampton Road, Cannock, which will be demolished to make way for 180 homes and 30,000 sq ft of employment space. The new factory has state-of-the-art stamping facilities and involved an investment of £50m.

The group specialises in the design, development and manufacture of highly engineered metal components for the automotive industry and its global workforce has continued to grow to more than 43,000 at its 108 manufacturing plants across 22 countries where the company has industrial presence.

Gestamp experienced solid growth during the last three months of 2018 mainly as a result of the ramp up of new projects.

Chief executive Francisco Lopez Pena said Gestamp had achieved its 2018 full year targets for revenue and earnings despite having experienced a more challenging than expected second half of the year as a result of market conditions due to shifts in production volumes particularly in Western Europe and Asia.

Western Europe experienced a 2.2 per cent growth rate to reach revenue of £3.51bn.

Gestamp currently has four plants under construction that are expected to open during 2019 in Mexico, Slovakia, USA and Morocco..

“We are involved in strong investments as a result of the increasing outsourcing trend. Lightweight solutions continue to be key to reduce carbon dioxide emission and with the increase of penetration of electric vehicles," said Mr Lopez Pena.

Gestamp is a multinational specialized in the design, development and manufacture of highly engineered metal components for top vehicle manufacturers. It develops products with an innovative design to produce lighter and safer vehicles, which offer improved energy consumption and a reduced environmental impact. Its products cover the areas of body-in-white, chassis and mechanisms.