The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Return to the black for Fife pigments specialist
INDUSTRY: Company saw 15% hike in sales across all market sectors last year
The Fife division of international performance pigments firm Silberline is back in the black.
New filings with Companies House show Silberline Limited achieved a pre-tax profit of £406,083 from sales of £20.89 million in the year to December 31.
Both figures represented an improvement on the 2015 returns when turnover came in at £18.22m and the unit sank into the red with a loss of £405,263.
The company, which has its base at Banbeath Industrial Estate in Leven, is a subsidiary of Silberline Manufacturing Company Inc, an Indiana-based manufacturer of metallic pigments used in coatings, plastics and inks.
The firm said: “2016 was a successful year where sales increased by 15% on the prior year.
“This growth was achieved across all sales sectors. Sterling was also strong against the euro and was a favourable factor to the company’s results.
“In the current economic climate it is difficult to make confident predictions about the results for 2017.
“Nevertheless it is believed that the markets for our products will remain strong, and that the range and quality of the products and services that the company offers will enable continued growth and satisfactory financial results in 2017.”
Silberline’s products are extensively used in the automotive, textiles and printing sectors as industrial coatings across a wide range of industries.
The accounts show the company made the vast majority of its sales, a total of £14.33m, in Europe.
The company generated sales of £1.36m in the domestic marketplace, with the remaining £5.18m being denoted as turnover from the “rest of the world”.
The accounts show the firm grew its Fife workforce from 134 to 142.
“The commercial environment is expected to remain uncertain in 2017, however, the company remains confident that it will continue to achieve a profitable performance in the future,” Silberline continued.
“The company will continue to improve its operations through the investment in people, processes and working capital management to ensure we continue to meet the requirements of our customers.”
Silberline’s roots stretch back to 1945 when Ernest Scheller set up Metals Powder Inc.
The firm remains in the control of the Scheller family, with chairwoman Lisa Jane Scheller described in the accounts as the group’s “ultimate owner”.