SALES at Southern Bear shot up by 189 per cent in the past year to £8.74 million, according to the firm's latest annual results.
Pre-tax profits rose by just 2 per cent to £356,000 due to a sharp rise in net finance expenses, but operating profit
s reached £655,000, up from £358,000 in the previous year.
Southern Bear, which is a holding company, has a market cap of about £7m. The group concentrates on the support services, engineering and industrial sectors within the UK and Europe.
Jon Pither, chairman, said: "This year has been one of notable success, with sales and turnover increasing rapidly.
"We made three significant acquisitions and I am pleased that the integration of these businesses has progressed smoothly.
"We also established a support services division targeting the social housing market. This is now our largest division and we intend to grow it aggressively."
Southern Bears' trading subsidiaries include Tarvail, Tarvail Design, Towerinput, BGC and Phoenix Dynamics.
BGC, Phoenix Dynamics and Towerinput were all acquired during the latest financial year.
The full article contains 187 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
