Optical components maker Gooch & Housego PLC (AIM: GHH) said a steady recovery in its core markets combined with a growth in new business has strengthened its order book and enabled a positive start to the current financial year to end-September 2010.
Ina statement prepared for today’s AGM, the company said while the upturn has impacted most aspects of the business, some product sectors have benefitted more than others. Traditional Gooch & Housego products such as Q-switches and quartz crystal optics have seen the greatest increase in demand as a result of recovery in the semiconductor and microelectronics sector.
Regionally, demand from the Asia-Pacific market has grown rapidly while the European and the US markets have been slower to recover. Despite the unevenness of the recovery the net effect on Gooch & Housego has been positive, it said.
The order book at the end of January was 21 percent higher than at the start of the financial year and stood at £18.8 million, approximately 75 percent of which is scheduled for shipment by the end of the current financial year.
It has also been successful in securing new business in key target markets such as aerospace and defence. “It is encouraging that our investment over the past few years in developing the capabilities and infrastructure necessary to meet the requirements of new and highly specialised markets is beginning to deliver tangible benefits,” Gooch & Housego said.
“The immediate future presents a number of challenges and uncertainties, including whether the recovery will be sustained and whether governments and businesses have the confidence to place long term contracts. We will continue to respond to the improving market conditions in a positive but cautious way,” it added.