STRONG SALES in China helped Belfast-based Andor Technology boost revenue to a record £20 million in the six months to the end of March according to their latest interim results.

The 24 per cent jump in turnover fuelled an 87 per cent hike in adjusted pre-tax profits over the same period to £3.3 million (€4million). Andor, which operates at the high-value end of the global scientific digital camera market, said earnings before interest tax, depreciation and amortisation also grew by 68 per cent to £3.5 million.

Conor Walsh, Andor chief executive, said that, taken in the context of the first half of last year – which saw increases of 40 per cent in revenue and 102 per cent in adjusted operating profit – the latest results demonstrate the company’s ability to trade above market expectations.

“Andor is not insulated from the macro-economic environment,” he said. “The economic environment is tough and we are not immune but we are taking market share from our competitors and we have continued to invest and spend throughout the downturn.”

Andor, which began life in 1989 as a spin-out from Queen’s University, saw sales in China grow by 71 per cent to £1.7 million in the six months to March at a time when revenue from European sales fell by 3 per cent to £7million.

Andor enjoyed strong revenue growth in other key markets, including Japan and the US.

The latest set of results include the first contribution from one of Andor’s latest acquisitions, Zurich-based Bitplane, which the Belfast group purchased last December.

The accounts show that, in the three months since its acquisition, Bitplane contributed revenue of £1 million and operating profit of £300,000.