West Bromwich based Steel & Alloy Holdings sees turnover up by 30%!
Turnover has been driven up by more than 30 per cent at Steel & Alloy Holdings as the automotive sector started to make a recovery.
The West Bromwich group, which supplies steel to car makers in the UK, including Jaguar Land Rover, Honda and Ford, is undergoing a rebranding process to focus 100 per cent on the auto sector, finance director Paul Whitehouse told Insider.
Steel & Alloy, which supplies about 28 per cent of the steel used in the UK car manufacturing industry, operates out of five main sites: three in the West Midlands, one in County Durham in the North East and one in Turkey.
Sales were up 33 per cent for the year ended 31 March 2011 to £141.9m at the business, which formed in 1969.
Operating profit accelerated ten fold from £30,683 to £3.1m as a result of increased sales volumes, cost reductions and internal efficiencies, the accounts said. Although, pressure remained on margins as material prices increased.
“The year since March 2011 has been affected by the Japanese tsunami and flooding in Thailand,” Whitehouse told Insider.
“All the Japanese implants have suffered with parts availability being limited in the UK and Honda was particularly affected by the flooding in Thailand.
“However, it has been supplemented for us by JLR basically selling out of its products with long waiting lists for its vehicles. Ford and Volvo and Nissan have also been doing well.
“So we have lost in Japanese volume but gained in other areas. And with the Japanese implants coming back, this year should be a very good one. The auto industry is projecting the number of vehicles made will reach about the 1.5-million mark.”
Steel & Alloy is currently rebranding to focus wholly on its automotive business and has a new website set to be launched in the next few weeks, Whitehouse added.
