Sevcon bullish as revenues jump

Electric and hybrid vehicle engineers Sevcon have seen revenues increase, building on its return to profit last year.

The Team Valley firm, who are listed on the the US stock exchange Nasdaq, saw operating income of $906k (£534k) in the six months to March 31, compared to an operating loss of $1.6 million (£940k) in the same period last year.

An increase in revenues from $18.2 million (£10.7 million) compared with $14.7 million (£8.6 million) helped the move back into profit.

Growth came from aerial work platform and fork lift truck demand in Japan and China, as well as new business following a joint venture with Chinese Tier 1 automotive supplier, Risenbo Technology.

President and CEO Matt Boyle is bullish on the prospect for electric and hybrid vehicles.

He said: “We believe the market will begin a meaningful shift towards larger electric and hybrid vehicles, and that inflection point may well be closer than many people think.

“Our product roadmap has the potential to put us in the sweet spot for this next phase of electric vehicle market growth.

“We believe that underlying demand is slowly gathering strength in the majority of our markets worldwide. Our lead times and order visibility are continuing to improve, and our portfolio of customer relationships is expanding. Although we are investing in Sevcon’s future growth, our business continues to benefit from having a low-cost, flexible manufacturing model.

“As a result, we believe that Sevcon is positioned to deliver significant margin leverage on incremental sales as conditions in our markets improve.”