The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Micronas jobs to go with closure of site
AFife electronics business, which is to shut its doors next month, suffered a big drop in profits in its last financial year.
More than 80 jobs are being lost at Micronas Ltd, which operates from a site at Southfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes.
The unit’s plunging profits have been revealed in the operation’s latest accounts just filed at Companies House.
The German parent has blamed the decision to close the Scottish base on falling car sales and the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Fife unit opened in 1994 and it provides final testing, quality assurance and logistics services in the UK for TDK-Micronas GmbH. Products go to the automotive and industrial sectors.
Glenrothes and Central Fife MP Peter Grant has described the closure announcement as a “huge blow” for the workers and their families as well as for the town.
He added: “Less than two years ago, the directors of the company were predicting a bright future for the Glenrothes plant with further investment being planned and work actually being transferred here from Germany. Suddenly the workers are told exactly the opposite is happening.”
Micronas Ltd’s accounts for the financial year to the end of last March show a dip in turnover to £6.47 million from £7.20m in the previous 12 months.
But pre-tax profits suffered a much bigger slide – the figure of £431,569 was less than half the previous year’s £877,819.
A directors’ strategic report with the results says that, following the decision by the parent company to consolidate operational facilities, the directors have agreed that the Glenrothes business will cease trading.
Five years ago, former Swiss-owned Micronas was sold to Japanese electronics manufacturer TDK for £150m.
Speaking after January’s news of the plan for the Glenrothes closure, Guenter Weinberger, chief executive of TDK Micronas GmbH, confirmed that his business had suffered from a weak automotive market in 2019 and even more due to the pandemic in 2020.
He said: “The most recent market analysis shows a decline of 24% of new car registrations in Europe in 2020 compared to 2019.
“During these challenging years, we have supported the Glenrothes site as much as we could by fully loading their capacity, at the expense of the parent site in Freiburg, Germany.
“However, we must recognise that, while the industry is slightly recovering, it will not be the same again.
“New equipment and new products generate the much-needed productivity improvements, and, as a consequence, we anticipate the overall production situation to develop towards a lower number of testers requiring less floor space and less operators.
“The Glenrothes site has always delivered good performance, but in a scenario where an entire site becomes obsolete, the only option is to keep the German test site running, as it is also the engineering location as well as the pilot production.”
The chief executive admitted that the closure marked the “end of an era in Glenrothes”.
He added: “Despite the clear economic situation, we sincerely regret having to part with all the capable employees on site in Scotland.”