Floods boost Skellerup gumboot sales
Skellerup’s latest profit result was boosted by gumboot sales during recent floods, helping offset flat turnover in dairy sector sales of rubber components since the downturn of recent years.
It is eyeing opportunities for its rubber products in the drinking water sector as local utilities gear up for upgrading.
When announcing an 8 per cent profit increase for the year ending June, chief executive David Mair highlighted the Havelock North water crisis and ageing infrastructure in the main centres.
Skellerup was well placed because of its relationships with pipe and tapware makers, as companies such as Watercare in Auckland commit to spending $4.9 billion over the next decade, he said.
Milestones for the year included the commissioning of a new 18,900-squaremetre dairy rubberware facility in Christchurch to help in its drive for exports. It sells 75 per cent of these products overseas.
Skellerup, Beca, Calder Stewart and Inovo recently won an ACENZ award for the new factory, which recognised the need for careful planning, modelling and teamwork.
Skellerup’s revenue of $201 million in the June year included $116m from its industrial products – seals, fasteners, automotive, electrical, and mining – and $80m from its agricultural division, which makes products such as nozzles, tubing, pumps and filters.
The agricultural division delivered earnings before interest and tax of $19.8m, while the industrial division delivered $17.1m.
After paying $9.3m in tax, and other expenses, the after tax profit was $22.1m, up 8 per cent.
Shareholders will be rewarded by a dividend for the year of 9.5 cents a share.
Skellerup is the largest industrial rubber products supplier in New Zealand, with customers in more than 30 countries including Australia, Europe, the United States and Asia.
Growing populations, changing weather patterns, ageing infrastructure and increasingly stringent environmental standards were creating further opportunities in New Zealand and abroad, Mair said.