One of the north-east’s most consistently successful companies, Peterhead’s Score group, has reported another year of strong growth.
Score, which provides engineering, research, design, supply, repair, manufacturing and training services in a variety of market sectors worldwide, said profits and turnover increased by 25% and 20% respectively during the year to September 26, 2013.
Chairman Charles Ritchie, who has a controlling stake in the group, said the growth was mainly driven by valve operations.
Weighing up the firm’s future prospects in its latest accounts, just released by Companies House, he warned there were some “clouds on the horizon” that were likely to affect overheads.
But record investment in buoyant energy and petrochemical markets would drive further success, he added.
Mr Ritchie, one of Scotland’s richest men, is among hundreds of shareholder employees at Score. There were 804 at the time the accounts were prepared, which was up from 753 since the start of the 2012/13 accounting year.
Broader ownership of the business “greatly benefits the daily performance”, the chairman said.
Pre-tax profits for 2012/13 came in at £8.06million, compared with £6.47million a year earlier, while turnover surged by nearly £30million to £179.89million. Net debt at September 26 totalled £4.9million, down from £5.15million a year earlier.
About half of the total turnover was from outside the UK as Score opened new facilities in Gladstone, Australia, with further operations in Sandnessjoen, Norway, added in November.
Mr Ritchie said Score Valve Services Houston was now an approved valve automation centre, while Score Asia was effectively supplying services to Petronas – the largest oil and gas producer in Asia – and Score Denmark continued to prosper.
In Scotland, Score has recently set up a logistics and distribution hub at Glenrothes as well as new facilities in Fraserburgh for back office project work.
Mr Ritchie said the company’s training systems continued to evolve during 2012/13, resulting in a 25% increase in delivered training days.
He added: “Our labour force has increased from 1,398 to 1,578 which includes the apprentice team of 14 in Australia and the new team of 12 at Sandnessjoen.”
Score’s chairman also said an initial trawl had revealed more than 50 potential patent applications.
The accounts showed that the company’s best paid director – unnamed but likely to be Mr Ritchie – earned emoluments of £368,000 during the period, a 28% increase on the £282,000 paid in 2011/12.