Lighting manufacturer PhotonStar LED Group has generated £8.7m in sales in 2012, up by 44 per cent when compared to the year before.
The company’s 2012 sales rose dramatically from £6.06m in 2011, according to the group’s annual results for the year ended 31 December 2012. This was attributed to strong growth in LED fixture sales.
However, the company made a pre-tax loss of £800,000 (down from £1.1m in 2011). This was the result of investment in plant and equipment and the development of LED products including ChromaWhite technology. Last year, PhotonStar, based in Romsey, Hampshire, expanded its manufacturing base in Tredegar, Wales to grow the volume of LED luminaires produced at the factory. As part of its efforts to develop ChromaWhite technology, the group also opened a new chip-on-board LED packaging facility for LED light engines in Romsey.
James McKenzie, CEO of PhotonStar said: “We achieved several major milestones during 2012, with our new production facilities coming online and successfully demonstrating the effectiveness of our ChromaWhite colour-tuneable LED technology. With good revenue growth already coming through and a strengthened balance sheet, we look forward to delivering further progress this year. We are in a strong position to take advantage of the developing LED market, with new, more efficient and competitive products coming to market during 2013.”
In December, the group raised £1.5m to develop products based on its ChromaWhite technology and in May of this year, the group was awarded a grant by the DECC Entrepreneurs fund of £372,269 to develop the ChromaWhite technology for the retrofit lamp market.
The manufacturer said sales to countries outside the European Union accounted for 23 per cent of revenue in 2012 and are expected to increase this year, particularly in the Middle East. To drive sales in the Middle East, the group signed a five year partnership agreement with Lightitude FZC in March 2012, the specification lighting division of the Debbas group based in the region. The agreement means Lightitude will distribute PhotonStar’s LED lighting fixtures across 19 countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
