BOWTHORPE, the Crawley-based electronics giant, has announced record pre-tax profits of £85.5 million, up 17 per cent.

Turnover for the year to December 31 was £540 million, up by three per cent. Commenting on the results, chief executive Nicholas Brookes, said the company is ready to make two acquisitions, probably in North America, of about £100 million each over the next two years. He said: "Progress has been made in transforming Bowthorpe into a more global company, both operationally and culturally. "We achieved strong operating profit. In particular, our European results showed organic growth of 19 per cent, despite the relative weakness in the German economy and the strength of sterling. "All our groups enhanced their presence in Asia Pacific, and we have been relatively unaffected by the recent economic turbulence. We now see an excellent opportunity to increase our presence in the region at lower financial risk."

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