Hydro sees strong business flow

September 6, 2011
By

Hydro International has shrugged off challenging trading conditions in the construction industry, boosting first half revenue by 24% to £13.7m.

The Clevedon company, which has developed a range of technologies to control urban run off, treat stormwater, combined sewage overflows and municipal wastewater, lifted pre-tax profit from £618,000 to £951,000 in the six months to June 30.

CEO Steve Hides said: "Significant progress has been made with accelerated progress on key wastewater contracts pushing revenue, operating profit and profit before tax all well ahead of the same period last year.

"The group remains financially strong and well placed to deal with the short term challenges posed by the current economic environment. The board is positive about the prospects and opportunities for Hydro's solutions and products; we have a strong order book and continue to move forward with a range of new initiatives and programmes designed to deliver sustained growth in the medium term".  
 
In fact the half year order book stands at £25.2m, well up from last year's £13.9m at the same time.
Mr Hides added that the record order book reported at the end of 2010 had been maintained thanks to the award of further major contracts in both the UK and US.  A number of key wastewater contracts had progressed ahead of schedule, benefiting sales revenue and profits in the first half.
 
Elsewhere, Mr Hides said the group had enjoyed considerable success over the past three years in the Middle East – particularly in Egypt, where grit removal equipment has been supplied into the Villages projects along the River Nile. Opportunities to build on this success have stalled as a consequence of the political unrest in the region during the spring and most of the major wastewater treatment projects have indeterminate timelines that are expected to slip beyond 2011.

Construction markets in Hydro's international Stormwater markets (New Zealand, Australia, South Korea and Malaysia) remain relatively subdued. However, said Mr Hides, flooding and water quality issues are increasingly on the international agenda, particularly throughout the Asia Pacific region. Medium-term prospects in this area, and others in Europe, are starting to build and Hydro is working with partner distributors to promote the development of a market for its products.

 
The shares rose 3% or 4p in early trading to 135p.

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