HIGH-tech Lisburn electrical manufacturer Camlin has reported a 30 per cent-plus increase in sales and swung from loss into healthy bottom-line profit in a year when it further expanded its international footprint.
And the company, which develops and supplies engineering solutions primarily for the electricity and rail industries, also revealed how it has adapted to the challenges brought by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Camlin, which also specialises in photonics (the science of using light to generate, detect or transmit information), had sales of just over £33 million in 2019, up from £24.9 million in the previous 12 months.
And that translated into the company - whose principal is Cookstown-born industrialist and entrepreneur John Cunningham (76) - moving from a loss of £720,289 in 2018 to a profit of £3,112,195.
It came during a year when the company implemented a major expansion at its state-of-the-art facility at Ferguson Drive in Lisburn.
Formerly known as Kelvatek, Camlin also spent £11.2m on research and development (broadly similar to the previous year), which mainly went into developing new and existing products, as well as engineering salaries.
The company, which employs 368 staff, the majority in Lisburn (it also operates European satellite facilities in Bologna, Parma and Krakow), develops innovative technologies and systems to improve the performance and capability of customers in industries including power, rail, biogas and security.
It combined its expertise in various sensor technologies with advanced machine learning data analytics to deliver solutions for customers in regions across the world.
Within the defence and security industry, Camlin is also developing new stand-off detection capability for detection of explosive, biological and chemical threats.
Mr Cunningham, whose sons Peter and Michael are now also directors of Camlin, was awarded a CBE in 2017 for services to the business community.
In a strategic report accompanying the results, he says the Camlin group has performed a risk assessment related to the outbreak of Covid-19 and identified a number of specific risks which it has sought to mitigate.
On fears that the supply chain could be disrupted, leading to potential parts shortages or increased lead times on deliveries, he said the group is engaging with all its key suppliers to ensure parts are available on time and in sufficient quantities to ensure limited impact on business operations.
He said the group has utilised labour from across other functions in the business to supplement manufacturing and address potential shortages.
The statement added: "We have not witnessed any significant reduction in customer activities throughout the early stages of the pandemic, largely due to our main customer base being in the power, rail and gas industries, which are essential to everyday life.
"But the group has performed a range of sensitivity analyses to ensure it is well placed to react to the evolving nature of the pandemic and has utilised lines of credit within its banking facilities which can be used to alleviate any short-term cash flow pressures."
