Building boom helps glass maker hit record
Dual-listed glazing and glass manufacturer Metro Performance Glass has reported strong revenue growth on the back of New Zealand’s construction boom.
Revenues jumped 30 per cent to $244.3 million, boosted by the addition of the Australian Glass Group (AGG), which the company bought in September last year.
Excluding AGG, Metro Glass’ New Zealand revenue rose 14 per cent to $213.8m.
Net profit fell 6 per cent to $19.4m, including one-off costs from the AGG acquisition. Excluding these costs, net profit rose 11 per cent to $21.3m.
Chief executive Nigel Rigby said Metro continued to build a strong position in Australasian markets, processing a record volume of glass.
Trading in Canterbury had been ‘‘particularly challenging’’ in the second half of the financial year as the post-quake rebuild slowed and competition increased.
In response, the company had diversified its operations across the South Island and was focusing further on automation, processes and costs across the New Zealand business.
As the building boom shifted to the upper North Island, Metro Glass’ focus had also shifted towards meeting those demands and expanding into the commercial and retrofit markets.
The company’s retrofit double glazing revenue grew 23 per cent.
Metro chairman Sir John Goulter said that despite the Christchurch decline, ‘‘low interest rates, strong net migration, a robust economy and the persistent housing shortage in the upper North Island are fuelling one of the larger surges in residential and commercial construction activity the country has seen’’.