Turbo boost

Turbo Power Systems’ order book grew by 12 per cent in the second quarter to £28m following group restructuring action earlier in the financial year.

The West Drayton manufacturer of electric motors, generators and drives saw production and development income fall to £1.9m from £2m a year earlier. However, earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the period rose to £80,000 compared with a loss of £2.04m in the second quarter of 2008.

Cash inflow for the period was at £60,000, compared with an outflow of £1.03m a year earlier. The group’s research and development tax credits for the first six months increased to £0.56m, which offset current spending by £0.46m.

The company attributes the figures to cost-reduction initiatives it undertook in 2008, which resulted in the company finishing the six months with an unrestricted cash balance of £0.64m and £1.12m related to performance bonds.

Paul Summers, chief executive of the group, said: ‘Overall, a positive set of results that demonstrate the benefits from the changes implemented over the last 12 months. It is very encouraging to see a positive EBITDA figure for the quarter, a figure we are determined to seek to further improve going forward.

‘Cash balances continue to be tightly managed as we prepare for production deliveries in the second half of the year and we anticipate that our cash balances will improve further towards the end of the year as these deliveries are completed.’

For the second half of the year, the company said that it would focus on the defence, transport, industrial and energy markets over aerospace and automotive, unless the projects offered in these sectors had a low business risk.

Chairman, Graham Thornton, said: ‘The results for the first half show that for the first time, the business is positioned for organic growth using cash generated from operations. The executive team has achieved a significant turn round in the company's performance, and there is further improvement to come.’