DUNGANNON-based door designer and manufacturer O & S Doors has posted an increase in both sales and gross profit in its first full trading year since being acquired by private equity firm Sun European Partners.
The company, which is one of the biggest employers in Co Tyrone, confirmed that its turnover in 2017 rose from £34.9 million to £36.4 million.
Gross profit in turn rose from £7.8m to £8.3m (a margin of 22.7 per cent), though bottom-line profit declined to £262,396 from £2.7 million a year earlier, due in part to additional interest payments and a biggest tax bill.
The company's assets at the end of the year were just short of £8 million, according to figures published at Companies House, and its liabilities are £1.9m.
It also has a balance of £10.8 million owing to its immediate parent, but this will not be recalled until the necessary resources are available.
O&S Doors, the UK and Ireland’s largest manufacturer of kitchen and bedroom doors, panels and associated accessories, was established in 1988 and is one of Co Tyrone's major manufacturing success stories.
It has expanded rapidly in the last decade and has built up a 1,000-strong customer base ranging from independent kitchen fitters to wholesalers and distributors across Britain and Ireland.
In June 2016 it was bought for an undisclosed sum by Sun European Partners, which has significant experience making acquisitions in the UK.
Among Sun's affiliated portfolio companies it has a number of leading businesses including Dreams, the UK's leading bed and mattress specialist; and Bonmarche, one of the UK's largest value retailer focused on selling quality womenswear to the over 45s.
O&S operates between a purpose built manufacturing site at Syerla Road in Benburb and a trade centre near Dublin.
The directors, in a strategic report accompanying the results, said they were satisfied with the trading performance and said the business remains in a sound financial position.
Staff numbers over the year rose from 365 to 383, which in turn bumped up the company's wages bill from £8.8m to £10.9m.
Significantly, the directors' payments jumped from £94,161 to £282,290, with the highest-paid director pocketing £120,000.
