Renishaw profits rise as overseas markets expand

Success in its key overseas markets helped precision engineering group Renishaw boost its profits by more than half last year.

The Gloucestershire company, which specialises in measurement and analysis technology, said it saw ‘significant growth’ in Asia, the US and Europe, resulting in a 55 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £31.3m from £20.1m.

Digitising, machine tool and co-ordinate measurement products were flagged up by Renishaw as the most important areas of product growth.

The company launched several new systems during the year. These included the Revo and Renscan 5, which provide five-axis scanning technology for use on co-ordinate measuring machines and are claimed by Renishaw to offer a step-up in accuracy and speed. Further R&D during the year also saw new devices for high accuracy linear scaling, tool breakage detection and dental scanners all make an impact on the market.

Renishaw’s overall R&D spending rose from £22m to £25.4m in 2005.

Chairman and chief executive, Sir David McMurtry, said he is confident the company can take 2005’s strong performance into the new financial year, despite admitting that forward forecasting remained difficult.

‘The current year has started well, although as is typical, forward visibility is limited with an order book of less than one month’s activity,’ said McMurtry.

During the past few years Renishaw has invested heavily to broaden its geographical markets, with new offices in Delhi and Pune, India, and St Petersburg and Perm in Russia. The company said the coming year would see further expansion in India, China and Turkey.

Closer to home, Renishaw is looking to strengthen its manufacturing base with a new UK anodising plant. This is expected to be commissioned and operational by September.