Andor marches on

Andor has benefited from continued growth in its core high-end markets, where it's taking market share, coupled with an expansion of its product range into mid-range products. This resulted in growth of at least 20 per cent in every business segment and region in which Andor sells. The group enjoyed particular success in sales of bespoke systems, which more than doubled and now account for 22 per cent of total revenues. The systems offering was boosted by two acquisitions last year.

Systems sales are lower margin than product or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) sales, which meant that overall gross margins dipped a little – although chief executive Conor Walsh doesn't expect systems to grow beyond 30 per cent of revenues as it has the potential to cannibalise other parts of the business.

Andor's order book grew £400,000 on last year to £13.8m. But there's relatively limited visibility in the order book and Mr Walsh admitted there are signs of nervousness, particularly in the US OEM market where there has been some de-stocking of inventories.

Broker finnCap expects adjusted pre-tax profit of £11.5m for 2012, and EPS of 28.6p (from £9.7m and 24.8p in 2011 ).