- Operating profit surges from £3.2m to £8.2m on 7 per cent higher revenue of £98.5m in 12 months to 31 May 2021.
- March 2021 disposal of Peter Brotherhood generates gross return of four times capital invested.
- Current order book covers 84 per cent of 2021/22 revenue estimate of £101m, and 40 per cent of 2022/23 forecast revenue.
Engineering group Avingtrans (AVG: 460p) is reaping the upside from the strong turnaround of two previously loss-making acquisitions made in the summer of 2019: Booth Industries, a Bolton-based designer and maker of fire doors, blast doors and wall systems; and Michigan-based Energy Steel, a maker of machined products to the civil nuclear power industry.
Both businesses are complementary to the rest of the group’s activities, which are mainly focused on designing, manufacturing and supplying original equipment, systems and after-market services to the energy and medical sectors. Both are now profitable as the benefits of restructuring and investment pays off. New contract wins are playing a major part, too. For instance, Booth’s record order book of £70m includes a multi-year contract worth £36m to supply cross-tunnel doors for HS2. Excluding this award, Booth’s order book is still 50 per cent higher than six months ago, says chief executive Steve McQuillan.