Chamberlin PLC (AIM:CMH), the specialist castings and engineering group, said its Russell Ductile Castings (RDC) foundry has returned its best-ever monthly performance, exceeding £1mln monthly revenue for the first time, in November 2022.
RDC exceeded £1.0mln of revenue in November 2022 for the first time and reported an order book of around £4.0mln, remaining on track to deliver to the board's expectations.
This strong financial performance, along with a strong sales enquiry pipeline of approximately £17mln, underpins the decision to make the investment and capitalise on market opportunities, it said.
Group Pension Scheme in surplus
Chamberlin also noted that its only defined benefit pension scheme, which is closed to future accrual, is now in a surplus position.
As reported in the company's final results in November 2022, the defined benefit pension scheme moved from a liability position of £1.2mln at 31 May 2021 to a £0.1mln surplus as of 31 May 2022, as reduced liabilities arising from an increase in bond yields and group contributions of £0.9mln more than offset a reduction in the market value of scheme assets.
The triennial valuation of the pension scheme as at 31 March 2022 is currently in progress and the company said it has appointed BDO UK LLP to advise its board.
The company is seeking to ensure that current market conditions, the group's improved covenant strength and the significant one-off payment of £0.6mln made in May 2022 from the RDC property sale and leaseback, are fully reflected in the new deficit valuation and any subsequent recovery plan payments required by the company.
Chamberlin said this gives its board "confidence of a positive outcome and the ability to ensure that any ongoing deficit is minimised".