Bodycote plc achieves £117m profit after push into new markets

Contract wins and expansion into new markets have delivered profit and revenue growth for thermal processing services company Bodycote plc.

In the 12 months to December 31 2017, the Macclesfield-headquartered business achieved a pre-tax profit of £117.0m, up 27.3% against the £91.9m reported the year previous.

Revenues for the period increased year on year by 14.9% to £690.2m, from £600.6m in 2016.

Stephen Harris, Bodycote group chief exec, said the growth was achieved through contract wins in the automotive and aerospace sectors, as well as “excellent growth in emerging markets”.

In a statement this morning (March 6), he also pointed to “broad-based growth across the general industrial sectors, an element of which was due to some customer restocking” as a contributing factor.

He said: “The group’s revenue growth, combined with continued discipline on costs, helped lift headline operating profit by 24%. Return on sales increased to 18.0% from 16.6%.

“To ensure that the business continues to deliver good results, we will continue to focus on efficiency, maintaining price discipline in light of increasing inflation across many economies, and the execution of our successful strategy.”

Mr Harris continued: “Our business, by its nature, has limited forward visibility, but we have entered the year with good momentum. Accordingly, and in spite of the foreign exchange headwind at current exchange rates, 2018 has started in line with our expectations.”