Gooch & Housego confident for FY

5th Oct 2010 07:17

Optical components maker Gooch & Housego said results for the year ended 30 September 2010 will be comfortably ahead of market expectations as it ramped up output to meet increased demand.In a trading update ahead of its full year results in November the group, which designs, manufactures and supplies photonic packaging and optoelectronic integration, said initiatives to boost manufacturing capacity also led to an increase in shipments in the final quarter."The increase in manufacturing capacity has enabled the company to continue to meet the growing needs of its customers and begin to reduce leadtimes despite the order book continuing to rise," it said in a company statement. At the end of the year the order book stood at £23.5m compared with £22.1m at the end of June and £15.5m at the start of the year. Chief executive Gareth Jones commented, "The past year has seen a full recovery in our core industrial laser sector and an encouraging increase in demand from our target Aerospace & Defence and Life Sciences markets."He added, "Gooch & Housego is a stronger, more diversified and resilient business than it was 12 months ago. Whilst we continue to be aware of the potential downside risks in the global economy, we look forward to starting 2011 with a record order book."