AESSEAL, has had yet another successful year, posting an 8% rise in organic sales, with currency adjusted profit up by 17.4% in 2018 and increasing turnover by an impressive £10 million pounds.
The Rotherham-based company designs and manufactures mechanical seals and seal support systems for a wide range of global industries including oil and gas, food, water, mining and pharmaceuticals.
Group turnover rose 6.3% from £170.6m to £181.3m in the year to December 31st, 2018, with organic sales growth of 8 per cent when adjusted for acquisitions and currency fluctuations. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) increased 15.7% to £34.7m.
Group net assets rose to £122.8m, an increase of 18.6 per cent from 2017, and the group held a positive cash balance of £16.5m at year end, despite increasing capital expenditure – which included investment of £6.8m in additional 9 and 11 axis machining capacity.
The strong financial results complete a bumper year for AESSEAL, which won a number of significant business awards in 2018, including the Made in Sheffield Apprenticeship/ Training Scheme of the Year, the International Trade Award at the Yorkshire Business Masters, the Princess Royal Training Award in recognition of its outstanding training and development programme and was named Engineering Ambassador of the Year at the British Engineering Excellence Awards.
The company’s commitment to ethical business practice was also recognised, as the company was proud to be awarded the inaugural Business of Trust Champion at the Lord Mayor’s Dragon Awards in September.
As well as scooping a number of awards as a business, a number of outstanding individuals within AESSEAL were also recognised, with apprentices Amber Nicholson, Nathan Wall and Ryan Morris winning Apprentice of the Year awards in their respective regions, whilst managing director Chris Rea was presented with a lifetime achievement award for his outstanding contribution to the pump industry at the Pump Industry Awards.
Founder and managing director Chris Rea OBE said: “Although 2018 was a year of political and economic turbulence, we are proud that the AES group has delivered another set of strong results. Hard work and a continued focus on the quality of our product and service has ensured that, despite market uncertainty, new and existing customers have continued to put their trust in us and our products. We look forward to 2019’s results with great deal of optimism.”