GROWTH in the Asian car market contributed to Co Antrim tyre safety systems maker Schrader Electronics posting a record quarter of a billion pound's worth of sales last year.
Figures filed at Companies House show that turnover at the Antrim and Carrickfergus firm - which works with top automotive companies such as BMW, Mercedes, Chrysler, Nissan and Audi - rose last year to £259 million from £193.3m in 2013.
And profit for the year, after tax, more than trebled from the previously 12 months, soaring from £8.5 million to £28.7 million.
Schrader is the global market leader in the design and manufacturer of tyre pressure monitoring systems (TPMS), which allows drivers to monitor their car’s tyre pressures by using electronic sensors which transmit data from each wheel to displays on the dashboard or rear view mirror.
The company's global production volumes rose by 3 per cent last year - and directors forecast they'll grow by another 2 per cent this year.
Financials filed in Belfast also showed that the company's workforce last year rose by more than 200 to 1,277 in Northern Ireland.
That, in turn, pushed Schrader's wages bill to more than £48.4 million.
The bulk of Schrader's business is done in the US, where the type of tyre monitoring systems it produces has been mandatory on all cars since 2007.
Some £146.9m of its £259m turnover came in the States, with £86.4m of business being done in Europe and the remaining £25.7m in other world territories.
Schrader - which won the Queen's Award for Enterprise in 2010 - has been developing its sensor technology for more than 20 years and is continually evolving to ensure it remains at the forefront of the industry and is the leading supplier of TPMS worldwide.
Last year the company was bought by Sensata Technologies in a £600m deal by private equity partners Madison Dearborn.
