Astec (BSR) Plc, the Stourbridge, West Midlands-based company which supplies power supply units and electronic components to IBM, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Siemens, has fallen behind schedule with its rationalisation programme, and did not see the benfits in 1990 as planned. Implementation, says chairman Brian Christopher, took longer and cost more than expected, and disrupted manufacturing and marketing. But, he continues, the restructuring is now complete and the benefits should be reaped during the current year. Currency conversion also hit the company hard, as 56% of turnover comes from the US – in 1989, $530m-a-year US components company Emerson Electric Co took a 45% stake in Astec – Europe accounts for 27% of sales and the remainder is contributed by Australia and Africa. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong, but publicly quoted in the UK, and in 1987 took over printed circuit board manufacturer BSR International Plc – hence the parentheses. This year, Astec has increased its investment in engineering and development to UKP14m, representing 5% of turnover. Problems that the company has been having with a cellular telephone customer in North America have led Astec to redirect the activities of its RF Division, which manfactures cellular telephones, in order to control costs. Borrowings at the year-end were UKP44m, up from UKP37m last year, mainly because of the problems in the RF Division. Although disappointed with the 1990 results – below, the chairman is confident that, having entered 1991 with a strong order book and a completed restructuring programme, Astec is well poised for the future.
