Tanfield Group closer to breaking even

Aug 18 2010 By John Hill

ELECTRIC vehicle and aerial lift manufacturer Tanfield Group has said it has “moved closer towards a break-even position” as it unveiled reduced losses in its latest interim results.

The Washington-based company said that its operating loss for the six months to June 30 was £9.8m, down from £10.4m in the second half of 2009 and £11m in the first half. Turnover was £28.1m, much the same as the £28.2m in the second half and £29.9m in the first half. Its net cash balance was £2.2m, compared to £5.4m at the turn of the year.

Tanfield said that demand for commercial vehicles “continued to rise steadily” but that markets outside of the UK were driving much of the growth. It signed non-binding heads of terms with Smith Electric Vehicles US Corporation on August 9 to consolidate the UK and US arms of the company, and added that SEV US had “indicated that it is exploring a possible public offering of its equity securities on the NASDAQ exchange”. The zero emission vehicle division boosted its turnover to £8.4m after a slide from £8.1m to £7m in the second half of 2009.

Tanfield believes that the market for aerial work platforms “is beginning to stabilise” after an “extremely turbulent two years”, with turnover at £18.6m in the period, compared to £20.5m in the second half of 2009 and £21.2m in the first half. It also reported a “small increase in activity” in its mining and off-highway vehicle work.

Tanfield expects trading conditions in the second half of 2010 to be much the same as in the first half, and has not recommended the payment of a dividend for this period.

Darren Kell, CEO of Tanfield, said: “Both of the principal business units performed in line with our expectations, during another extremely challenging period for the global economy.

“We maintained tight control of cash and moved closer towards a break-even position, while still retaining all our core people and skills.

“Tanfield continues to leverage its status as the world leader in commercial electric vehicles, while we are also seeing signs that the global market for aerial lifts is stabilising, albeit at very low levels.”