Profits fall at Tristel but sales are up
Exports break the £1m mark
Tristel, a UK-based infection and contamination control specialist, reported a 6% increase in sales to £9.29m for the year to 30 June 2011. Pre-tax profit fell from £1.7m to £0.5m, largely owing to investments.
Newmarket-based Tristel, which raised equity of £3.9m in November 2010, said it is now debt free and has cash of £441,000 compared with net debt of £270,000 in 2010.
Tristel’s chief executive Paul Swinney said he was disappointed that the firm’s five-year record of continuous profit growth had been broken, but significant progress had been made to grow the scale and capabilities of the Group.
Ambitious growth plans executed during the year included an expansion of the firm’s Newmarket production facility to double capacity and establish cleanroom manufacturing, and increased investment in overseas markets.
The expansion of the manufacturing facility enabled Tristel to launch the Crystel range of disinfectants and detergents for pharmaceutical and personal care manufacturing companies. These products have joined the firm’s hospital infection control and animal healthcare products.
Sales of Tristel’s chlorine dioxide based products, which are used in hospital infection control, were flat at £7.1m, while sales of the new Crystel range were £38,000.
The firm received regulatory approvals for its products in China, Hong Kong, Germany and Australia, and Group export sales increased by more than 34% during the year from £748,000 to £1,004,000. Swinney said international expansion would continue to be a major driving force for the growth of the Group.
Strengthening the management team, Tristel has appointed former Weston Medical chief executive Christopher Samler as non-executive director.