Engineering news
Engineering consultancy Ricardo has reported a 29% increase in underlying pre-tax profit to £9.3 million for the first half of its financial year on the back of a record order book.
Total group revenues for the six months to the end of December 2013 increased 12% to £111.9 million compared to the same period of last year. Its order book reached a record level of £143 million.
Dave Shemmans, Ricardo chief executive, said: "The company has continued to secure good levels of new business … well diversified across geographies and market sectors. We have increasing levels of business from Asia and Europe and the market sectors of rail, motorcycles and power generation continue to expand.
"With the record order book well balanced across both technical consulting and performance products and an encouraging order pipeline, we remain confident of further progress in the future."
The company's technical consulting revenues increased 10% to £84.7 million in the period, while its underlying operating profit increased by 19% to £5.6 million.
Its performance products business had a strong first half, with revenues increasing 15% to £27.2 million, while underlying operating profit increased by 17% to £4.2 million. The company said its trading performance in the period was underpinned by increased motorsport activity and monorail transmissions, which offset a reduction in the delivery of defence vehicles.
The company began production of the Porsche Cup transmission in July and in December 2013 announced a new multi-year engine supply agreement with McLaren Automotive. This contract, which represents revenue in the order of £40 million per annum for Ricardo from 2016 onwards, is the largest in almost a century of Ricardo history.
Ricardo said its strategy moving forward focuses on the core areas of growth of transport and security, and energy together with new opportunities in the area of scarce resources and waste.
Ricardo employs more than 2,100 staff globally.