The managing director of Fife switchgear testing facility Micronas Limited says he is optimistic for 2015 despite suffering a profits fall last year.
Accounts show a marginal drop-off in revenues to £4.35 million in the year to December 31, down from £4.42m the previous year.
However, pre-tax profits were down significantly from £179,049 to £19,256 for the period, with a tax credit of £2,248 taking the final profit figure to £21,504.
The company is part of Swiss switchgear and controls group Micronas and it employs 74 staff at its base at Glenrothes.
The plant provides testing services for automotive switchgear components produced by another group company in Germany.
The components are brought to Fife in an untested state and are put through a rigorous quality control process to ensure they operate as expected.
The tested parts are then packaged up in a manner specified by the end client before being despatched back to Germany for distribution.
The Fife plant used to carry out consumer electronics testing but the business model has changed in the past five years to focus solely on the automotive sector.
Managing director Derek Hampson said the slight dip in revenues for the year was primarily due to factors outwith the company’s direct control. However, he said the Fife plant was receiving ongoing investment from the parent group and said he was optimistic about its future prospects.
“The decrease in turnover was due to delays in business activities planned mainly for the second half of 2014,” Mr Hampson said in his strategic report to the accounts.
“Customer shipping releases were not achieved on time for the beginning of Q3, 2014 due to external factors outwith the control of Mironas Ltd.
“In addition, technical difficulties with some of the new projects scheduled in Q4, 2014 resulted in delays to the transfer of equipment from Micronas GmbH.
“Micronas Ltd continues to be a cost-effective production facility and in combination with a planned capital investment of £1.93m for new tester / handler systems, we aim to strengthen the business to ensure our future competitiveness in 2015.”