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Thirsk steel firm behind The Shard reports growing stability

Severfield-Rowen Plc, the Thirsk-based structural steel group report their financial position for the year continues to be “in line with management expectations” although their Indian venture is “challenging.”

The UK order book of £172 million remains stable and at a level “with which management is comfortable.”

The Shard dominates the London skyline

Severfield-Rowen are the largest structural steel firm in the UK and have contributed to the building of The Shard in London and the Gateshead Millenium Bridge.

A trading statement said: “The UK business is showing much greater stability following the completion of the reorganisation undertaken in the last calendar year.

“The operational improvement programme continues to make good progress, supporting management expectations that margins will continue to recover over the next two years even without any upturn in the UK market.”

“The UK market continues to show signs of improvement. This is particularly evident in the pipeline of potential orders the business is seeing, though it is likely to be well into the next financial year before this starts to have any notable impact on the size or mix of the order book.”

According to the report, the Indian market continues to be difficult and is likely to remain so at least until after the forthcoming elections in May 2014.

The order book level of £32 million remains stable, but as highlighted previously, needs to be significantly higher to maintain break-even production levels in the factory.

Overall the statement said that the Group is ideally positioned for recovery in the UK construction market, with its improving operations, good market share and strong balance sheet.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .