Cost of sales leads Brammer to profit crash
INDUSTRIAL products supplier Brammer reported a 46.2 per cent fall in profit as sales, distribution and administration costs jumped.
The company’s profit dropped to £17.7m in 2014, from £32.9m in the year before despite an 11 per cent revenue growth.
Brammer, which distributes its products in several European countries, boosted its revenue with increased sales in France, Germany and Spain but UK sales declined 2.8 per cent.
In January last year, Brammer bought Scandinavian distributor Lonne Holdings. Sales from Scandinavian countries now account for around seven per cent of the company’s revenue.
“We have invested heavily in growth drivers to counter difficult market conditions,” chief executive Ian Fraser said. “Our continental European businesses have performed well, whilst the performance of our UK business has been disappointing.”
Dividend payout increased by almost five per cent.
The company last year attempted to consolidate part of its business in Coventry in an attempt to cut adminstration and staffing costs.