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Composites maker Gurit clocks 28.8% hike in H1 revenue

27 Aug '14

3 min read

Switzerland-based and composites maker Gurit reported a 28.8% surge in revenues to CHF 167 million in the first half of 2014, compared to CHF 129.7 million for the first six months of 2013.

Gurit said the hike in first half of 2014 sales came in the backdrop of a weak first half of 2013 and was also driven by skyrocketing sales in its Composite Systems and Engineering division.

Compared with the period July to December 2013 period, turnover grew 10.2%, which it said indicates that recovery started in summer 2013.

Division wise, in the first half of 2014, Gurit Composite Materials, posted a 18.1% higher net sales of CHF 128.8 million versus CHF 109.1 million in the comparable period of 2013, largely driven by business with American and Asian customers.

Material sales to the wind energy market in the period under review grew by 22.8% year-on-year and thus recovered from of the contraction Gurit had faced during the first half of 2013.

Gurit added that, while operating profit in this segment is improving and achieved reasonable levels in the industrial, marine, and aerospace markets, it still holds upward potential in the wind energy business.

Revenues at the other division, Gurit Composite Systems and Engineering skyrocketed 85.5% from the first half of prior year to CHF 38.2 million in the first half of 2014.

Sales of tooling systems heaved strongly by 136.3% to CHF 25.2 million. Sales generated with composite car body panels rose 31.7% to CHF 9.1 million, mainly due to deployment of Gurit’s new press technology for larger series of composite car parts.

In 2014, Gurit first produced class-A, visual carbon car roofs using this innovative, more automated technology.

Engineered structures generated revenues of CHF 4.0 million, an increase of 29.8% over the first half of last year.

During the reporting period, Gurit transferred the manufacture of composite parts for commuter buses from UK to its new production site in Hungary.

According to Gurit, the strong increase in sales and the excellent operational performance of the tooling business resulted in an operating profit of CHF 7.7 million, or 4.6% of net sales for the first half of 2014.

This represents a significant improvement from the CHF 0.6 million or 0.5% of net sales posted for the same period last year.

Including a non-operating profit of CHF 2.1 million from the sale of land in Wattwil - Switzerland and income taxes of CHF 2.5 million, Gurit posted a net profit of CHF 7.1 million or CHF 15.19 per share.

With an equity ratio of 67%, balance sheet at end of June 2014 remains very solid and Gurit added by saying that for the remainder of 2014, it expects operating profit margin around the level achieved in the first half of 2014.

Fibre2fashion News Desk - India