Offshore cabling specialist Tekmar has issued a bullish trading update which outlines growth of 40% and a record order book.
The County Durham firm, which provides subsea protection systems for the global offshore energy markets, said its results for the year ended March 31 were likely to be in line with market expectations, with revenue 40% above last year.
Tekmar said the growth had been achieved despite the coronavirus lockdown impacting on the group’s performance in its fourth quarter. It added that that it had a record order book at year end of £10m, up 39% on 2019, and a strong balance sheet of £2.1m.
Tekmar CEO James Ritchie said: “I would like to say a big thank you to the team at Tekmar and all our other stakeholders for their resilience, cooperation and support during these challenging times.
“While our growth in the period has been impacted by Covid-19, the demand for offshore wind remains strong.”
Tekmar said that it had received a £3m Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan from its bank, Barclays, and added that it was well placed to navigate the uncertainty of the coronavirus outbreak.
It had continued to operate across all of its sites throughout the lockdown, with measures put in place including split shifts, home working and risk assessments to ensure that work was as safe as possible.
The company had furloughed around 8% of staff but said those workers would be reinstated “at the earliest, safe opportunity”.
Tekmar said it had also put in place a number of short-term measures to maintain cash levels, including a freeze on the group’s annual pay review, recruitment and capital expenditure.
The group, which is based in Newton Aycliffe and also has an office in London, is made up of five operating companies: Ryder Geotechnical, AgileTek Engineering, Subsea Innovation, Tekmar Energy and Pipeshield International
It floated on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM in 2018 for with a market capitalisation of around £65m. Tekmar’s shares were trading up 4% in early trading.
