Midland engineering firm Castings has told investors that demand for all of its products has continued to increase after reporting a rise in profits.
The Brownhills-based foundries company revealed that annual pre-tax profits had risen to £9.8 million in June, compared to £3.6 million the year before.
It has benefitted from an efficiency drive – which has included hundreds of redundancies – so was able to improve profitability despite sales falling 28 per cent to £84.8 million.
Ahead of its annual general meeting last week, the company’s chairman Brian Cooke said there was evidence of an improvement in the market for Castings, as demand had increased.
Mr Cooke said the company was investing in its CNC Speedwall business, based in Brownhills, and plans to expand its William Lee foundry in Derbyshire were continuing apace.
Mr Cooke said: “I am pleased to report that demand for our products has continued to grow since my chairman’s statement in June.
“We are continuing to invest in new machines at CNC Speedwell in order to meet the increasing schedules particularly from the commercial vehicle industries.
“We are also re-investigating a project to improve on site logistics at the Brownhills foundry.”
Castings invested £15.5 million in a new foundry for its William Lee business and £3.4 million for new machines at its CNC Speedwell business last year.
