IMI revenues slip

4th Mar 2010 13:47

Engineer IMI posted a sharp fall in profits and revenues in 2009, but said its concentration on niche areas helped it maintain strong margins.Pre-tax profits in the year to December 31 fell to £176m from £186.2m as revenues dropped to £1.792bn from £1.901bn. Norman Askew, the chairman of the company, whose divisions include fluid power and beverage dispense, said: 'Retention of group operating margins in excess of 13%, despite a 16% organic reduction in revenues, is a measure of the underlying quality and differentiated positions of many of IMI's businesses today.' He said that the company was not anticipating any sharp recovery in the global economy in 2010. 'However, a lower cost base, with further benefits expected to arise from our ongoing transfer of manufacturing to lower cost economies, should enable us to build on the good progress made to date,' he said.