Avon Rubber's 'excellent' year sees profits and revenues spring

Avon Rubber reported strong annual profit and revenue growth on Wednesday, with its year-end order book also exceeding that of last year.

Over the 12 months ended 30 September reported revenue increased by 4% to £165.5m compared to the previous year, sending operating profits up by 13% to £22.8m following “good customer demand” for new products.

The design and engineering outfit remains focused on its core markets of protection & defence, and dairy.

The AIM-listed company, which trades as Avon Protection and milkrite|InterPuls, had a closing order book of £37.8m at the end of the year, up from £30m at the end of last year, after receiving £173.3m worth of orders throughout the year, up 4.4%.

Net cash at 30 September stood at £46.5m, up from £24.7m at the same point in 2017.

Paul McDonald, chief executive, said: "I am pleased to report another successful year, delivering strong growth whilst further building the order book to provide excellent visibility into 2019. The results reflect the ongoing benefits of the strategic actions we are taking to grow our presence in our core markets and to invest further in product development to meet the needs of our expanding customer base."

These actions include the $2.1m acquisition of Merrick's calf nurser product line, the release of new products such as the powered air range and MCM100 rebreather, and the relocation of Avon’s West Palm Beach, Florida electronics assembly facility to its main US manufacturing facility in Michigan.

Demand for new products has been high and Avon said it has enjoyed strong sales performance of hoods and mask systems in Europe, the Middle East and Asia as the law enforcement market grows.

"The positive momentum in both Avon Protection and milkrite | InterPuls provides a strong foundation for growth and leaves us well positioned to deliver further success during 2019," said McDonald.

Avon’s shares were up 4.28% at 1,370.00p at 1127 GMT.