Blue Seal took steps to mitigate the coronavirus impact on its finances.
Cooking equipment supplier Blue Seal, part of the Ali Group, has recorded a positive set of financials as it bounces back from the pandemic period.
In its latest annual report, now publicly available from Companies House, the Birmingham-based outfit detailed it generated almost £14m in turnover during the 12 months ending 31 August 2021. This is 7% up from the previous year’s £13.1m.
Operating profit rose at a hugely faster rate of 54% too, from £2.5m to £1.6m.
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Blue Seal reports into its parent company in New Zealand, called Moffat, with the group MD Greg O’Connell stating within the accounts: “With an industry-wide slowing in the marketplace, overheads and margins have been tightly controlled by management, with the result being an increase in profitability proportionally greater than the increase in sales.”
He analysed the trading landscape across the report’s timeframe, detailing: “The uncertainty of economic conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the political uncertainty caused by Brexit, have both in turn continued to slow the marketplace. The Covid-19 pandemic has had the dominant effect, through which Blue Seal has achieved increased sales, across all customer types, with the ‘Blue Seal’ brand, the ‘Turbofan’ brand and the ‘Waldorf’ brand, all showing continued acceptance in the marketplace.
“The increasing cost of freight and freight delays from all parts of the globe is also impacting the business due to the slow conversion of orders to sales. There are signs of an economic recovery as the Blue Seal orderbook has strengthened over the past months. We believe the company is well-placed in respect of these issues through balance sheet strength and the company’s ability to change the overhead structure quickly.”
Looking ahead, O’Connell said: “The company has a strong and healthy cashflow and in addition to which we budgeted an operating profit for FY22, which enhances the company’s ability to meet all operational funding for FY22.
“We expect the general level of activity to be maintained in the forthcoming year. We expect the market to be difficult due to continued economic uncertainties resulting from Brexit, Covid-19 and freight uncertainties.”
