IRELAND’S largest family owned structural steel fabricator Walter Watson recorded a pre-tax profit of £5.1 million last year, despite the increasingly competitive nature of the industry.
The 54-year-old Co Down business, which operates from Castlewellan, Kildare and Dundonald in Scotland, reported a four per cent fall in group revenue to £52m for the year ending December 31 2020.
But the group, which employs 230 people, managed to increase its profits thanks in part to forward buying of raw materials, which it said had a significant positive influence in an increasingly competitive procurement marketplace in 2020.
In a review of its operations during 2020, the directors said: “The order book position for the group is extremely strong and further significant contracts have been awarded in 2021.
“Whilst the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic is closely monitored, it is encouraging to note that quality projects continue to come to market, and the group’s pipeline of opportunities remains healthy, which reflects the group’s standing in the UK and Irish markets.”
The directors said the group continued to invest in its core business during 2020, with an ongoing capital investment programme to modernise premises, plant and machinery.
“We expect that as the economy improves; the levels of activity will increase in the wider construction sector.”
Acknowledging the new post-Brexit arrangements since Janauary 2021, the report states that EU safeguarding measures on certain steel imports had changed buying behaviours in the industry.
New UK and EU quotas in 2021 created further changes, pushing steel prices higher in 2021.
Higher raw material costs for steel mills coupled with higher demand had push prices up further, the directors stated.
