Fife integrated circuits and semiconductor device manufacturer Semefab saw profits more than double last year.
Newly published accounts at Companies House show the firm – which has a large manufacturing base at Eastfield Industrial Estate in Glenrothes – saw turnover fall from £10.38 million to £9.43m in the year to October 31, 2016.
However, the group’s bottom line made progress during the period, with pre-tax profits rising from £300,187 in 2015 to £536,342.
A tax credit of £129,035 meant the company posted a profit after tax of £665,647 for the year, more than twice the return seen in 2015.
Managing director Allan James said the dip in revenues had been due to a customer overstock situation in late 2015 and the firm had actually seen a rise in confidence in its markets in the UK, US, Europe and China.
“Business in China remains strong and the closed circuit television camera market where our CMOS light sensor is employed, and the the Passive Infrared Motion detector market where our JFET is employed, are significantly outperforming the China economy generally,” Mr James noted in his strategic report to the accounts.
He said the company also continued to develop gas and blood analysis sensors and was working with Swansea University and a commercial partner to develop a generic point of care diagnostic sensor.
Semefab is also involved in a Censis funded project with the University of the West of Scotland to produce new micro hotplate and thermopile technologies for use across multiple sectors including gas sensing and the IoT (Internet of Things.)
Mr James added the firm had received “significant” new business inquiries relating to the security, automotive and bio/medical sensor fields.