UK-based engineering and industrial group Langley Holdings has posted a record profit for 2016 and says it has now paid off the group’s acquisition of Manroland Sheetfed.
Profits before tax were up 15 percent on the previous year to €122.7million on revenue of €900.9 million.
Chairman Tony Langley said Manroland Sheetfed, acquired five years ago this month, had now returned the group’s initial investment in full.
The German printing press manufacturer is now the group’s largest division in revenue and employee terms, with 40 subsidiaries around the world. Under Langley’s ownership, Manroland has installed around 500 Roland printing presses and maintained several thousands more. In 2014, manroland unveiled the advanced Roland 700 Evolution.
“The Roland 700 Evolution confounded those that said the company had ceased to develop new products and astonished pundits to become the most technologically advanced printing press in the world today, re-affirming Manroland’s long-held reputation as the technology leader in offset litho printing,” said Langley.
“During this transformation, the division has consistently stood on its own feet, generating sufficient cash resources to not only fund the reorganisation of the business and develop new products, but also to do this without any further financial injection, either from Langley or external sources, and in the process, returning the group’s initial outlay in its entirety.
“The printing industry continues to face many challenges and in 2016 a slow-down in the Chinese market was high amongst them. Increasingly over previous years, China’s economic expansion became a pillar upon which all press builders, Manroland included, had become dependent. The Chinese market has slowed in recent years and the slowdown increased further in 2016. In addition, the crisis in the Brazilian economy all but extinguished this emerging market. Other markets for new presses around the world, in some cases dormant for many years, picked up much of the slack and a remarkably strong performance from the company’s US and Canadian subsidiaries, together with a very solid performance in Germany, meant that overall the division was profitable in 2016, as it has been in each of the five years under our stewardship.
Langley said he’s confident the company can deal any challenges posed by the new Trump administration.
“The election of Donald Trump as 45th President of the United States of America, does have some potential to negatively impact our group’s performance going forward, if protectionist rhetoric materialises in the form of trade barriers with the EU. Our US manufacturing operations would no doubt lessen any impact, and as the equipment manufactured by our European companies is market leading for technological reasons, I do expect our earnings in the US to remain reasonably robust in the Trump era.
"2016 was the best performing year since I founded the group in 1975 and is stronger now than at any time in its history. We will continue to operate our existing businesses for the long term, and will continue to seek out acquisition opportunities to develop the group further."