TT Group Plc has posted positive interim results for the half year to June 26. The company, which bought loss-making contract manufacturer AB Electronic Products Group Plc in January and turned it around by March, boosted net profit by 12.7% over the same period last time, at ?3.8m, on turnover that jumped 127.9% to ?179.1m. The figures include AB figures from January 7, which is when the ?12m bid went unconditional. As a show of strength, TT Group increased its interim dividend to 2.6p from 2.4p last time. Part of the reason for the company’s success is the investment in new technology to reduce operating costs, and the company also points to the devaluation of sterling in what is becoming a commonplace cause of improved profit in UK companies trading abroad, although joint chief executive Nicholas Shipp admitted that the lion’s share of turnover still comes from the UK. The cost cutting exercises at AB included the disposal of three unoccupied factories to the Welsh Development Agency – the group had to pay dilapidation charges of ?100,000 on two of them. Shipp predicted a rise in profitability for AB once its existing sales contracts have run out and TT renegotiates them for better margins. He added that there were no immediate plans for futher acquisitions but refused to rule one out within the next interim.
