Fall in profits as Brexit uncertainty central to ‘challenging conditions’
ENGINEERING company Renishaw has posted revenues of £574million for the year ending June 2019 – six per cent down on its 2018 figure of £611.5million.
Based at Wotton-under-edge, it is one of the world’s leading engineering and science and technology companies with more than 80 bases in 36 countres.
Profit before tax was £103m, down 28 per cent from £145.1m last year against what executive chairman Sir David Mcmurtry called ‘a backdrop of challenging economic conditions.’
Sir David, inset, said: “Innovation
drives our business, from the generation of new technologies to new manufacturing processes.
“In my role as executive chairman, I have enjoyed the opportunity to focus on group innovation and product strategy, supporting our talented engineering teams.
“This has included our industrial metrology and additive manufacturing technologies, where there are exciting opportunities for future growth.
“During the year, we continued to invest in developing future technologies, with total engineering costs of £97.9m (before net capitalised development costs and the R&D (research and development) tax credit), amounting to 17 per cent of total revenue.” Chief executive Will Lee said: “We achieved revenue for the year ended June 30 of £574m, compared with £611.5m last year, against a backdrop of challenging economic conditions including the impact of trade tensions between the USA and China, and ongoing uncertainty surrounding the potential impacts of Brexit.”
He said group inventory increased from £110.6m at the start of the year to £129m, primarily reflecting the impact of Brexit contingency preparations and reduced demand in the second half of the financial year.
The company’s Brexit steering group increased its activities leading up to the original deadline of March 29, including a new distribution warehouse in Ireland which aims to reduce the number of shipments between the UK and the EU post Brexit.
The number of staff worldwide increased to more than 5,000 this year.
Renishaw was placed at number eight in our Top 100 Businesses in Gloucestershire list.
A global leader in the field of 3D printing, it is the only UK business that designs and makes industrial machines which print parts from metal powder.