Murray Capital, now the principal company in Sir David Murray's business empire, has reported a strong trading year and a 20 per cent turnover rise to £142million.
Run by the former Rangers chairman's son David D Murray as the family's main investment vehicle, Murray Capital has since 2012 acquired Sir David's steels business Murray Metals and land investment arm Murray Estates from Murray International Holdings.
The first full year of ownership of Murray Metals, bought by its management in a £14m deal, saw backer Murray Capital book its turnover at £58m, a rise of £20m over the previous year. The group said there was also a £3m rise in turnover at Glenrothes-based Brand Rex, one of its bigger holdings, thanks to continuing global demand for its cabling systems.
But there was an exit from its long-standing investment in Alexander Dennis the Falkirk-based bus manufacturer, which Sir David helped rescue in 2004 alongside the then Brian Souter and Sir Angus Grossart. Mr Murray commented: "Having held the investment for 10 years, we felt this was, strategically the right time to realise a successful gain on exit."
Mr Murray went on: "This positions the group well to address an increasingly active deal market as we continue to look for suitable investment opportunities, in both trading businesses and real estate."
He said Alphastrut, a Lanarkshire-based oil and gas support system business acquired this year, had "an exciting portfolio of intellectual property", while Livingston-based Wine Importers, a leading distributor in Scotland, had been transferred from family ownership into the group.
Mr Murray said this year's £14m acquisition from MIH of Murray Estates included strategic land assets in central Scotland at various stages of planning, and he was "optimistic about the future potential of these sites".
The group said a £2m fall in profit had been offset by a £4.28m writeback of negative goodwill from the Murray Metals acquisition two years ago. Net debt had reduced from £15.9m to £14m, with year end cash standing at £6.2m, and shareholder funds at £21.4m.
Mr Murray said: "Looking forward, 2014 is shaping up to be the best year since MCG was formed as we have made some successful exits and new investments. This will be reflected in the accounts for the year ending December 2014. Trading in our metals business....and our IT services business Capito, is also positive with satisfactory levels of profitability forecast in both."
Mr Murray said: "Good progress has continued to be made across the portfolio over the past couple of years. As a family-owned investment business, whilst focusing on metrics such as profit, we take a long-term view on returns and underlying value in the businesses."
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