Strong year for Mincon as revenues, profits advance

Irish engineering group Mincon has reported a strong financial year for 2020 despite the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The company, which specialises in the design, manufacture, sale and servicing of rock-drilling tools and associated products, said that revenues rose by 7.7 per cent to €129.9 million in the year to December 31st 2020. This was due to the expansion of the group’s core operations, as well as its acquisitions of Lehti and RocDrill.

Pre-tax profits were up from €14.2 million in 2019 to €17.1 million. Having suspended its interim dividend, Mincon said it would pay a final dividend of 2.10 cent per ordinary share, in line with the total dividend paid for 2019.

Joe Purcell, chief executive, said that the pandemic was a "pressure test of our resilience, business systems, preparedness, and management".

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“2020 was a challenging year for Mincon but we successfully tested the resilience and cohesiveness of our regional management structure. Throughout the year this shone through, and I would like to thank all who stepped up to the tasks that a very unusual year threw their way,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Purcell said the group will look at diversifying its revenue streams, while growing core business activities in the mining, construction, and waterwell/geothermal industries.

Broker Davy said the company has “comfortably” beaten its profit forecasts for 2020, and is a “stand-out” relative to the sector.

“In our view, the company has outperformed in recent years due to superior product development, and this pipeline continues to be robust,” it said in a note.