US rail order sparks TPS

Power technology group Turbo Power Systems (TPS) has announced a new £1.5m contract from the US rail industry, adding to the £12m in orders it had already secured in the first half of 2007.

The London-based group’s Power Electronics division received the order from the US National Rail Equipment Company to provide traction motor controllers and low voltage power supply units used in NREC’s locomotive.

TPS, formerly known as Turbo Genset, added the contract to an existing £1m order from NREC and £11m worth of deals with Bombardier in Chicago and Toronto.

TPS unveiled the latest NREC business as it reported an almost doubling of production and development income and a nine per cent reduction in loss before tax in its interim results.

Although production and development income were up by 93 per cent to £4.7m, compared with £2.4m last year, orders entering the production phase and a factory move to Gateshead in June contributed to higher costs. Loss before tax, however, fell to £3.3m compared with last year’s £3.6m.

‘The first half of 2007 has seen further strong production growth and our successful Gateshead factory relocation will provide increased capacity and drive production efficiency,’ said Michael Hunt, chief executive at TPS.

‘The £4m raised in June has allowed us to invest further in our development platform and makes us fully funded on current forecasts.’

According to TPS, the £0.2m factory relocation was completed with minimum disruption to planned production levels, and it expects to secure £250,000 of grant funding from the development agency, One North East in the second half of 2007.