Business
Capital Investment by German Associate
Capital Investment by German Associate.
About this update from Hargreaves Services Plc
[{"type":"text","content":"\n \nRNS Number : 0456U Hargreaves Services PLC 19 October 2017 \n\nFor immediate release 19 October 2017\n \n \nHargreaves Services plc\n(\"Hargreaves\" or \"the Group\")\nCapital Investment by German Associate\nHargreaves Services plc (AIM: HSP), a diversified group delivering key projects and services to the infrastructure, energy and property sectors, is pleased to announce a new capital investment project by its German associate, Hargreaves Raw Materials Services GmbH (\"HRMS\"), the Group's European raw materials trading business.\nHRMS Background\nHRMS, which was established in June 2006, is based in Duisburg, Germany, and is a key supplier of specialist raw materials to major European customers in the steel, foundry, smelting, ferroalloy, sugar, limestone, insulation, refractory and ceramic industries. Favourable market conditions in the past 12 months have allowed HRMS to expand the range of products it trades and distributes and in the past financial year the business delivered an operating profit of £10.3m. HRMS adopts a flexible and low-risk trading model, sourcing and supplying product on spot or short-term contracts. The combination of experienced management and a low fixed cost base provide the flexibility to increase or decrease the volume of trading to match market conditions. \nRecently, HRMS has focused on short term trading opportunities which, by their nature, offer limited forward trading visibility. Historically, HMRS benefited from more predictable trading based around the raw material inputs and production outputs of the Group's Monckton Coke production facility in the UK which closed in December 2014. Therefore, securing a trading position connected to an alternative strategic production asset represents a major strategic opportunity for HRMS to improve forward trading...