Profits at the Scotland-based UK arm of Gore-Tex manufacturer WL Gore tumbled 63% last year, as a revaluation of the company’s pension pot uncovered a £9.5 million deficit in the scheme.
The firm, which has bases in Dundee and Livingston, said it saw turnover drop to a “healthy” £112.2m during the year to the end of March, following the previous year’s all-time high of £136.3m.
Pre-tax returns fell to £11.1m compared with £30.3m a year earlier thanks to changes in the product mix, a reduction in demand caused by high customer inventory levels, and what it called “exceptional global economic circumstances”.
WL Gore & Associates (UK) also said its results had been adversely impacted by a drop in contract income thanks to austerity measures introduced by governments across the European Union.
The firm said it had completed a “significant” infrastructure investment in the refurbishment of its premises on Livingston’s Kirkton Campus during the year, and was committed to investing in further product development and innovation.
“The strong balance sheet provides a sound platform for future development opportunities and enables the company to take full advantage of more favourable market conditions as they materialise during FY14 and beyond,” it said.
While the figures were also down on FY11, both turnover and profitability were in excess of the marks posted three years ago with the firm stressing its liquidity position of £54m was “exceptionally strong”.
Against this backdrop, the company reviewed its pension scheme during the year and booked an actuarial loss of £11.6m resulting in an on-paper £9.5m shortfall.
The UK division of global waterproofing and technical fabrics giant WL Gore & Associates employs around 425 people at manufacturing sites in Dundee and Livingston, and has been voted the best place to work in Scotland in each of the last 10 years.
Though best known as the developer of the waterproof, breathable Gore-Tex fabrics beloved by walkers and outdoors enthusiasts, the company’s products are also used in a wide range of industrial and consumer applications.
Work at Dundee Technology Park focuses on cable and cable assembly products, and electronic and electrochemical materials while operations in Livingston are concerned with fabrics, protection wear, surgical and medical products, alongside filtration, geochemical services and pump components, sealants, venting and fibres.
Around 75% of the firm’s products are shipped outside the UK, with more than 40% destined for European markets.
The company declined an invitation to speak to The Courier.
Husband-and-wife team Bill and Vieve Gore established its privately-held US parent in 1958, in an effort to exploit the properties of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) commercially.
Insulated wires produced by Gore were used by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong as part of experiments carried out during their 1969 moon landing, but it was 1972 before the first expanded PTFE-fibres were turned into the Gore-Tex fabric.
The innovation received its first commercial order four years later, and the group has since continued to explore new uses for its ePTFE technology.
WL Gore & Associates, which believes in a non-hierarchical, team-based structure, and considers its staff as associates rather than employees, now enjoys worldwide total revenues in excess of $3.2bn.