The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Profits double for Fife sheet metal firm
TREND: Booming sales for firm, which operates a large factory in Glenrothes
A Fife sheet metal specialist has recorded a sales increase of almost £2 million.
Trend Technologies Ltd, which operates from a 75,000 sq ft facility in Glenrothes, revealed the 23% increase in sales in newly published accounts.
The firm’s top line rose to £10.2m for the year ending December 31 2018, an increase from £8.3m in 2017.
Trend’s pre-tax profits were £463,000 last year, more than double the 2017 total of £218,000.
The company, whose global headquarters is in California, offers a range of services in a spectrum of sectors which include automotive, healthcare and life sciences and networking.
It specialises in the areas of metal stamping, metal fabrication and injection moulding.
The firm has 10 facilities across North America, Europe and Asia, with an average monthly employee headcount of 111 at the Glenrothes site.
The directors’ report points to a strong order book at the end of 2018, leading to predictions of further growth this year.
It states: “The additional unit housing assembly operations is now functioning well.
“It has allowed new business and customers to be taken on while allowing more efficient manufacturing operations in the original unit.
“Further growth is anticipated in 2019 supported by a strong order book at the end of 2018.”
It added: “The company will continue to invest in the latest CNC machinery and equipment to maintain its competitive edge in the marketplace.”
The directors view the principal risk affecting the growth and profitability of the company as “the nature of the sub-contract business and how our customers are affected by the slow rate of global growth”.
In a bid to counter this risk, the company is looking to have a spread of customers who operate in different market sectors.
Previously operating as Stevenson Grantech, the firm was acquired by Trend Technologies in 2016 in a move as part of a global expansion programme, and in a bid to add value proposition to European companies.