Global Fastener News

Trifast Asian Sales Up; U.S. Sales Unchanged

John Wolz

Trifast plc global sales for the fiscal year ending in March 2006 rose nearly 13% to GB�117,282,000 (U.S.$216.4 million). The UK-based fastener distributor and manufacturer reported Asian sales jumped 22% and U.S. sales remained unchanged.

Key events in the year were acquisitions in Europe, including Serco Ryan, and manufacturing developments in Asia. Q3 European sales were impacted by a substantial slow-down in the electronics and telecoms sector, reflecting a transition toward new wireless technologies, Fastener & Fixing Europe reported.

In October 2005 Trifast bought Serco Ryan, which contributed five months revenue of �12.66m ($23.4m) and �0.99m ($1.8m) operating profits.
CEO Jim Barker said Serco Ryan will be “trading fully under the TR brand by the interim.” In February Trifast also acquired Keba Fastening in Istanbul, Turkey, for a maximum consideration of US$2.2 million. The business now trades as TR Keba. In the calendar year 2005 sales were �1.05 ($19.4m) mainly from the electronics and household appliance sectors.

Revenues from Asia were up 22% to �21.15m ($39.1m) and operating profits rose 14.8% to �4.02m ($7.4m). A new manufacturing facility in Suzhou, China, has begun production and will grow to full capacity within the coming year.

Trifast’s U.S. sales remained virtually unchanged at �3.162m ($5.8m) but an operating loss of �1.018m ($1.9m) was recorded, including a �786,000 goodwill impairment. “Our relatively small team in North America gains us much business, but mostly elsewhere the world and especially in Asia,” Barker commented. The Trifast board does not expect the US operation will be a major growth business in standalone terms. “We will continue to maintain our presence in the USA in the areas of engineering, product development and TR proprietary product sales.” Web: trfastenings.com �2006 FastenerNews.com and Fastener & Fixing Europe