Scott Technology has posted yet another strong full-year financial result and already has $195 million in forward orders.
The automation and robotics solutions company announced its results yesterday for the year ended August 31, which showed a 21% increase in group revenue to $268 million and a 27% increase in operating ebitda to $30.4 million.
Net profit after tax was up 21% to $15.4 million and a dividend of 4c per share was declared to take the full-year total to 8c.
Chief executive John Kippenberger was pleased with the company’s performance and record growth, particularly amid the "complexity of the modern world", with geopolitical pressure which had become supply chain pressure, and very strong inflation.
The highlight was having the business continue to grow and mature under the Scott 2025 strategy set a few years ago which focused on core technologies of which Scott had proven products to sell to big markets around the world.
Its materials handling and logistics (MHL) business delivered growth of 35% on the previous year and Europe sales revenue grew 59% during the year.
Growth in MHL revenue followed the successful change in management structure to bring the United States business under the leadership of Scott Europe, which enabled greater expansion into the US market.
That strategy had produced its first result, with McCain Foods ordering a $12 million palletisation system for one of its North American sites.
Scott had been selling proven technology to big food companies in Europe for some time.
It had been a strategic focus for the business to take MHL technology into North America, which was a "huge market" with a massive appetite for automation, Mr Kippenberger said.
Several units of Scott’s poultry trussing machines were being dispatched from Dunedin to Costco in the US and there was strong interest from very large poultry producers in the US.
Scott’s minerals business, anchored out of Auckland and supplying lab testing equipment, continued to trade strongly.
The Ukraine War forced a withdrawal from sales to a well-established dealer in Russia last year, but that was offset by its newly designed automated modular solution in Mineral Resources Ltd and 16% growth in Rocklabs service parts business.
A key focus of the Scott New Zealand business had been production execution, resulting in revenue growth in a lamb-boning room at Silver Fern Farms’ Finegand plant and continued growth in lamb modular products for many Australian customers.
Mr Kippenberger was excited about the progress Scott had made and the opportunities it still had in front of it.
It was still operating in a complex environment but the demand-drivers of labour supply in very large markets such as Europe, the US and Australasia were expected to continue.
The business was "really starting to hit our straps" and there was an infectious feeling of excitement throughout the group.
Scott’s team had also made good progress in measuring its carbon footprint across the whole business, Mr Kippenberger said.
