Chamberlin issues delayed results

The Walsall-based group saw revenue for the year to the end of March 2020 drop 21 per cent from £33 million to £26.1m reflecting the challenging automotive sector over the year. It made a loss before tax of £2.3m including £800,000 restructuring costs.

Chamberlin also released its interim results for the six months to the end of September last year. Revenues fell only slightly to £11m, while losses were reduced to £600,000 – down from £1.8m a year before.

The group Chamberlin is in the midst of making 101 redundancies, which were announced last month.

It would leave the business, which has recently lost two major contracts and had been facing the prospect of potential insolvency, with a 138-strong workforce.

The redundancies are part of a restructuring process which Chamberlin, based at Chuckery Road, says will save the company £3.4 million a year.

Chamberlin and Hill, including its machine shop, saw sales in the five months to February 28 down from £7.8m to £5.7m reflecting a progressive reduction in purchases from principal customer BorgWarner.

The group has three subsidiaries: Chamberlin and Hill in Walsall; Russell Ductile Castings, Scunthorpe and industrial lighting business Petrel, Walsall.

It undertook a £3.5m share issue in March in order to keep afloat.

The suspension of trading in the company's ordinary shares on AIM has now been lifted. Trading had been suspended since January 4.

Chamberlin's annual general meeting will be held as a closed meeting given the restrictions in relation to Covid-19 on June 8.

Chairman Keith Butler-Wheelhouse said: "Management are confident that sales at Chamberlin will stabilise in the first half of the 2021-2022 financial year and will then grow."

He said the board expects growth from all business units and a return to profitability and cash generation after the group's restructuring.