The Group's revenue and operating profit increased by £11.1 million (14.8%) and by £0.9 million (4.8%) respectively. This strong growth results from favourable exchange rates and the full year effect of the acquisition in Belgium of the contracts and brand name of Somati FIE N.V. in September 2008. If the 2009 results from the European subsidiaries had been translated at 2008 rates, revenue would have increased by 5.2% but operating profit would have decreased by 5.3%. This is reflective of the current economic climate.
The worldwide economic downturn that was experienced throughout the year resulted in a challenging year for the business. The effect was to depress unit prices for service and increase the desire of our customers, where possible, to delay the purchase of new equipment. The effect of this was most marked in the installation of new fire alarm systems which is heavily reliant on the construction and refurbishment of commercial property industry.
Across all our companies there has been investment in training the field service forces to identify further products and services that the Group can offer. Throughout the Group, operating companies that have previously provided service of fire extinguishers are expanding their service to incorporate service of fire alarms now that acquisitions in prior years are fully integrated. The operational managers continually assess further services and equipment that our service engineers can cross sell.
Customer satisfaction measurements reflect the appreciation of our services. Future organic growth of the Group relies on the strong combination of existing extinguisher and alarm services with the new fire safety related activities that have been identified.
The business will continue to develop new sales channels that will enable the Group to take advantage of favourable market conditions and opportunities as they arise. At the same time the Group will continue to concentrate on its cost base to maintain profitability during the difficult economic environment.
