Steel manufacturer Hadley Industries has doubled its pre-tax profits to £5.2m over the past year after benefiting from a “less volatile” steel market. The Smethwick based company said it had gained from a renewed confidence both in the UK and overseas.

For the year ending 30 April, pre-tax profit rose from £2.6m to £5.2m. Turnover also grew, hitting £93m compared with £74m in the previous year.

Stuart Towe, chairman of the Black Country LEP, is the company’s group managing director. He said in the annual report that it had “performed well during a volatile period”.

He added that the growth in both turnover and profit had been achieved through higher demand for the group’s products both in the UK and foreign markets.

Hadley Industries specialises in manufacturing cold rolled sections, profiled sheets and other steel products.

It acts as a holding company for eight subsidiaries including Hadley Rolled Products; Handsec and William Sharp. It also includes its overseas divisions Hadley Industries (Middle East); Hadley Industries (Thailand); Hadley Profltechnik, based in Germany and United Arab Emirates-based Hadley Steel Framing, of which it owns 50 per cent.

After its year-end, the company revealed it took a further 10 per cent share in Hadley Steel Framing at a cost of £1m. It said it also has the option to buy a further 10 per cent of the company in January next year.

The company said it had benefited from steel prices being “less volatile than in previous years” throughout the year. However, it admitted that the “future direction steel prices remains uncertain”, and said any rise could have an effect on margins.