The Broadcast Systems Division also saw a year of growth, with
sales up 13% in constant currency, 6% in £ sterling. This was a
marked improvement following several years of stagnation due
to the decline in the broadcast market. Each unit has new
products to promote – the new Quattro-S pedestal from Vinten is
particularly encouraging as it, and the family of new
studio/outside broadcast control heads based on the Vector 900,
are generating sales in a part of the market where we already
enjoyed a significant market share. Our portable power
company, Anton/Bauer, continued to take market share in
Europe, winning orders from TFI in France and RAI in Italy.
The Olympics acted as a catalyst for several purchasers, with
many of the Group’s products used there and it was a strong
year for robotics products. 2004 saw the opening of a sales
office in Beijing, which will strengthen our position in China as
local broadcasters gear up for the 2006 Asian Games and the
2008 Olympics.
In addition, non-broadcast applications also grew. 2004 saw
significant shipments of support devices for surveillance
equipment, and of Air Traffic Control intercoms systems to
Korea, China and Vietnam, as well as the large contract for the
German Space Operations Centre. This will be used to monitor
the forthcoming Soyuz mission. Margins are improving in this
area, as we complete the product development work and are
able to be more selective about the projects to which we bid.
In September we announced that, with the manufacturing
restructuring bedding down, part of the commercial operations
of this division would be rationalised. The aim was to reduce
internal duplication while ensuring we could maintain the pace
of innovation for which our brands are known. These projects
are going well, they produced benefits in 2004 and are expected
to produce further benefits in 2005, on top of those flowing from
the plant closures. In Camera Support we are optimising many
of our back office operations in the USA and Europe, for which
the new IT systems are an important foundation.
| |
2004 |
2003 |
| Turnover |
£86.9m |
£81.9m |
| Operating profit* |
£3.9m |
£3.9m |
| Operating margin* |
4.5% |
4.8% |
*before exceptional charges of £2.2 million (2003: £1.9 million), goodwill amortisation of
£0.8 million (2003: £0.7 million) and impairment of goodwill of £0.4 million (2003: £nil)
In Communications the two main companies, Clear-Com and
Drake, have been integrated and the brand repositioning
exercise completed successfully. Both brands now have access
to all product families, and this has been well received by
customers. New distributors have switched from other suppliers
to join the Clear-Com network. As part of these changes, new
managing directors have been recruited for both the Camera
Support and Communications businesses.
During the year, Vinten celebrated 40 years on the site at Bury
St Edmunds, England, having moved from North London in
1964, and Sachtler relocated a short distance to new facilities at
Eching near Munich, where sales, marketing, customer service,
and most importantly R&D, will be based.
