Bosses at engineering firm Hardide have revealed losses have been cut and are positive about the future.

The UK operation of the company which has its headquarters in Bicester, made a pre-tax profit of £112,000 for the first time in the six months to March 31 compared to a loss of £52,000 for the same period last year.

The group as a whole also cut its pre-tax loss to £891,000, down from £909,000 in 2007.

Turnover at the firm which employs about 30 people in Bicester making super-hard coatings for drills used in the oil business, also increased by 14 per cent to £1.26m.

Chairman Robert Goddard also revealed the company had entered into a three-year test programme with aircraft manufacturer Airbus.

But Hardide has been hit by a recent "shortfall in sales" which has led to a new fundraising round of £1.5m and a revision of the strategic plan under newly appointed chief executive Dr Graham Hine.

However, Mr Goddard said there were "strong indications" that a recovery in orders will occur in the coming months.

He added: "I believe these results together with the number and calibre of global customers with whom the technology is currently in commercial use or test, demonstrate the fundamentally sound proposition of the group and its technology."

10:46am Tuesday 17th June 2008

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