Sales rose at Hull glazing firm EYG in 2018, but a drop in profits took the shine off a strong year of growth.
Directors at the business, based in Wiltshire Road, said an “exceptionally high" order book had resulted in an increase in staff overtime, with EYG workers having to work weekends on higher wages.
They said this, combined with increased motor costs as the business took on more staff, had hit profits at EYG Holdings.
Despite this, sales at EYG soared from £23.7m in 2017 to £25.1m last year, with the company also announcing in April it had got off to a flyer in 2019.
Directors at EYG wrote in recently-filed accounts: “The profits of the group have reduced when compared to the previous year, due to the exceptionally high ordertake by EYG Domestic Ltd, especially in the first six months of the year, which resulted in a requirement for an increase in overtime with employees working on weekends at premium rates.
“There was also an increase in the number of employees, mainly installers and surveyors, which resulted in the need for an increase in the number of motor vehicles and consequential increase in motor costs.”
Operating profits at EYG Holdings fell from £468,555 in 2017 to £244,684 last year, accounts showed.
The results – for the year up to October 31, 2018 – showed EYG increased its staff from 269 to 294 in the same period.
After the dip in profits in 2018, EYG reported a strong start to 2019 in April.
It said at the time it was putting the finishing touches on contracts worth more than £4m, and was working with clients in new locations across the country.
EYG’s work has ranged from schools to multi-million pound student accommodation complexes.
A £24m refurbishment of the Oldways House building in Swansea, Wales, has seen it turned into a 13-storey, 556-bed complex for students, for which EYG has supplied and fitted more than 800 windows.
In Sheffield, EYG was chosen by North Midland Construction to work on a new 17-storey student accommodation development, in a contract worth around £860,000.
It has also worked to meet similar demands on a £750,000 contract with Torsion Group, on the new 15-storey student accommodation project in Birmingham.
Steve Swallow, commercial director, said: “The most pleasing thing looking at our order book over the past 12 to 18 months, and ahead later in 2019, is the number of developers we are working with for the first time, and the new locations we have been working in and are heading to.”
