Bodycote services all of the major manufacturers in the aerospace industry as well as a large portion of their supply chains.

The following review reflects constant currency growth rates unless stated otherwise.

Revenue in 2023 was £355.5m, an increase of 14% (14% at actual exchange rates) with strong growth in civil aerospace, oil & gas and medical revenue.

Headline operating profit increased to £69.5m (2022: £50.8m), and headline operating margin increased to 19.5% (2022: 16.2%) and 21.0% excluding the revenue effect of energy-related surcharges (2022: 16.9%), reflecting higher aerospace volumes as well as improved pricing and operational performance in our Surface Technology business. Statutory operating profit increased to £63.1m (2022: £44.0m).

We spent £13.4m on expansionary capital expenditure, with significant investment in capacity growth for the North American Specialist Technologies business.

Return on capital employed increased to 15.5% (2022: 11.9%) as a result of the improved profitability.