Princess Yachts in the UK say that have 'strong order books' after confident performances at the Cannes and Southampton boat shows, and currently marking its 50th anniversary, figures published today show that Princess Yachts has successfully weathered one of the most difficult years in its history, significantly outperformed its competitors and is on target for profit in 2015.
Despite hurricane-force storms in February 2014 that brought chaos across South-West England and caused millions of pounds-worth of damage to facilities and stock at Princess's Plymouth manufacturing facility, a major programme of investment undertaken by the company will set a new standard for the industry with six new world-class models launched in the next half-year alone.
While other UK builders reported that adverse economic conditions badly affected their businesses, Princess's order book remained buoyant throughout the year.
Princess Yachts' results for the year to 31 December 2014 show a loss before tax of £11,343,000 on turnover of £239,630,000 equivalent to a margin of -4.7%. (2013 profits were £4,845,000 on turnover of £239,365,000 equivalent to a margin of 2.0%.)
This is considered by the board to have been an especially strong performance in light of the force majeure and its aftermath that affected the business for up to eight months. Indeed, the company was able to meet every order and even exceed its 2013 turnover with all manufacturing plans back on schedule by November 2014.
Meanwhile, expansion of both M Class and S Class ranges of boats is taking the Princess brand into new markets and sectors, and heralds a resumption of normative profitability in 2015, while even more emphatic growth is projected for 2016. The company is also continuing to work with its insurers towards final settlement of claims arising from the storms.
Chris Gates, Managing Director of Princess Yachts, said: "We are immensely proud of our team who worked extremely hard to meet and exceed customers' expectations during such a difficult period as we worked to recover from this natural disaster to ensure that we didn't lose a single piece of business.
"In parallel, our determination to step up investment in product development has both led the entire UK yacht-building industry and helped to future-proof the company by creating a wealth of new opportunities.
"We are now on track for a return to our customary position of profitability in 2015 and beyond, with a strong order book and the significant expansion of both M Class and S Class ranges of boats, which will further consolidate Princess Yachts' reputation as a world-leading yacht builder."
