Turnover at Plymouth motor boat builder increases, but profit drops from 2008
Princess today announced strong earnings for 2009, despite a background of continued economic uncertainty.
Turnover at the Plymouth-based motor boat builder rose to £213.8m, up 3% from the previous year, but pre-tax profit dipped, from £26.58 in 2008 to £18.4m last year.
The news follows the announcement last month that Sunseeker had made a pre-tax loss in the year to July 2009.
The results are announced at an interesting time in Princess’s development, as the yard takes big steps into the superyacht arena, with plans for 32m and 40m boats.
As part of this development, Princess is investing £45m at its new Devonport South Yard manufacturing site, which should lead to 200 new jobs being created at the company.
Chris Gates, MD of the firm, said: “We are delighted with this strong set of financial results but we must remain cautious about the market outlook.
“We recognise that the greatest concern to customers currently is security of purchase, especially when building larger boats with longer lead times, so we are very happy that these accounts will give both our customers and our distributors added comfort that the Princess name is encompassed within a strong and resilient company.”
