Leoni Wiring Looks Ahead to Strong Growth in 2015

Leoni Wiring, which counts Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as a major customer, is expecting strong growth in 2015 as new vehicle models become established.

Newcastle-under-Lyme-headquartered Leoni Wiring Systems UK designs and supplies wiring systems for consumer and commercial vehicles. German parent company Leoni Group received a €100m (£86.3m) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB) in 2013 for research and development work across its sites, including in Staffordshire.

Sales at the UK arm fell in the year to 31 December 2013 from £182m to £173m with earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) sliding by 31.9 per cent to £14.7m and pre-tax profit down from £20.3m to £13.2m.

Revenue from the company's top two clients, which includes JLR, fell back by just more than £10m in 2013 to £85m.

"Again in 2013, the good overall performance of LWS UK was driven by sales that were higher than forecast, careful planning and good financial management," the company's directors said in the accounts.

"The production volumes of the major customers of LWS UK remained generally strong in 2013 although were affected by model cycle changes, including run-outs and new model introductions."

This cyclical volume reduction affected sales and earnings during the period and was expect to continue into 2014, they added. However, strong growth was anticipated as the new models become established in 2015 and beyond.

Despite the current volume reduction, the company increased headcount by 12 per cent to support the new model introductions and now employs close to 300 staff.

The parent group made a "dynamic" start to 2014 with sales growing by more than 6 per cent in the first three months of the year to the highest-ever quarterly total of €1.02bn (£830m). Earning were also up by more than 31 per cent to €50.6m (£41.2m).

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