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Geared for growth in electric vehicle market ; TRANSPORT [Newcastle Journal (England)](Newcastle Journal (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ZERO?EMISSION vehicle innovator Sevcon is poised to double its North East engineering team and recruit additional worldwide sales sta~ as it seeks $10m (Pounds 6m) from shareholders to support its growth. e Gateshead-based business, which is listed on the Nasdaq in the US, has launched a rights issue in which it says some of the additional funds may be used for potential overseas acquisitions. Matt Boyle, president and chief executive o!cer of the electric vehicle control manufacturer, believes the global on and o~-road hybrid and electric vehicle market is set to move into a new gear. e $10m rights issue follows a strong lift in revenues and pro[Dagger]ts over the last few months. Revenues for the six months to March 31 were $18.2m (Pounds 10.7m) compared with $14.7m (Pounds 8.6m) in the [Dagger]rst six months of 2013, while pro[Dagger]ts came in at $906,000, (Pounds 534,000) compared to an operating loss of $1.6m (Pounds 940,000) in the [Dagger]rst six months of last year. Sevcon's research and product development is conducted from its Team Valley headquarters, where it T employs a team of 40 skilled hardware and software engineers. Boyle said: "Realistically we are looking at doubling the size of the Gateshead engineering team to 80 sta~ to meet our projected demand and we also want to increase our global sales team. A number of signi[Dagger]-cant new opportunities are currently presenting themselves and we are scaling the business to meet these growth projections." " Almost all of Sevcon's sales are overseas and the company has highlighted Asia, and spec[Dagger]cally China, for major growth opportunities. Earlier this year it signed a jointventure with Chinese automotive supplier Risenbo Technology. T Operating as Sevcon New Energy Tech T - nology, the new company will sell Sevcon products to tier one automotive suppliers in China. Boyle said: "e Chinese are far ahead of the rest of the world in adoption of low carbon vehicles. Last month the Chinese government said it would remove six million older polluting vehicles from the road this year, and replace them with lower polluting gas or pure electric cars. "e desire of Far East governments to reduce the number and type of polluters isn't limited to passenger cars, but includes buses and trucks, although rather than producing pure electric vehicles they are trying to promote hybrid technologies as well. "e Far East, and China especially, have reached an in<<ection point in the electric vehicle market." " Further details of the rights issue were announced on the Nasdaq recently, with the company's market statement saying: e net proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and growth, including funding Sevcon's ongoing research and development and product commercialisation initiatives and acquisitions of other businesses." Boyle added: "We believe when we identify a possible acquisition, it would be desirable to have the resources at hand to complete any transaction quickly." (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |