Memec Plc, the Thame, Oxfordshire-based supplier of electronic components and microprocessor systems, reports a healthy and growing interest overseas with the acquisition of 51% holdings in two Hong Kong companies, Excel Associates Ltd and Maxisum Ltd, along with the acquisition of 9.4% of an Australian-based distribution company Datamatic Northrop Ltd. These new interests give Memec access to markets in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, New Zealand and Japan. As regards the US and the continent the company already has a toehold in both markets. Its US subsidiary Insight Electronics made its first profit contribution of UKP752,000 this year having penetrated the South West corner of America. Its continental operations centred in West Germany were not as successful, however, with both IST Elektronik and CRC GmbH turning in disappointing results. Nevertheless, Mentronik progressed steadily and the company set up a new operation, Advanced Semiconductor Products, in West Germany at the beginning of this year focussing on different product lines. Despite all this activity abroad, Memec’s core business remains in the UK where component sales were soft. The company’s marketing of sub systems and peripherals in the UK was expanded through the acquisition of Pragma Ltd, a distributor of high end specialist non-impact printers, and this market as a whole continued to grow. With pre-tax profit up 28% to UKP8.3m on turnover up 29% to UKP81.2m, the prospects for controlled expansion look good.
