In Dunedin, Scott develops meat robotics and also diverse mining technology applications, while in Christchurch it manufactures assembly lines for export.
Research and development into new technologies is leading to a standardisation of some of those products, reducing its reliance on making one-off assembly line systems, which have in the past had long lead-in contract times and also posed foreign exchange risks.
Shares in Scott, which have leapt 34% from $1.70 in mid-September, yesterday traded around a seven-year high of $2.28.
A final dividend of 5.5c per share yesterday boosted the annual dividend to 8c, up from 7c a year ago.
For its year-to-August result, Scott has booked a 19% increase in both revenue and after-tax profit, of respectively $63.8 million and $8.7 million. For the same period last year, Scott reported a $7.3 million operating profit, a 32% increase on the previous year's $5.5 million, while revenue was up 15% at $53.6 million.
Revenue from export sales a year ago was worth $47.5 million but grew in the past year to $54.8 million, or 86% of total revenue.
Scott chairman Stuart McLauchlan said revenue and profit growth had been boosted by the mining sector in the past year, while in the year ahead, meat robotics and Chinese operations were set to boost revenues.
"The mining sector has been particularly strong during the past year and has been a good contributor toward revenue and profit growth," he said.
Of the $63.8 revenue, mining contributed $34 million, assembly lines' $16.4 million, meat robotics $5.5 million, high temperature superconductors $3.1 million and "other" industrial automation $4.5 million.
Debt is zero, cash in hand stands at $6.06 million and Scott has no drawings on a $6 million banking facility. Hedging contracts for forward foreign exchange cover, often a bane in previous years, gained $846,000 for Scott during the year.
Just last month, Scott paid an initial $630,000 in a purchase agreement for Perth-based Integrated Conveyor Systems Ltd to acquire its assets and intellectual property rights, and will run the company, until due diligence is completed in June next year.
That purchase follows a string of bolt-on acquisitions, ranging from $500,000 to $10 million in diverse fields including superconductivity, centrifugal machines, motor and lathe manufacturing and numerous mining-related technologies.
"In an environment where the global economy continues to be challenging, Scott has kept its focus on developing new technologies and associated business opportunities," Mr McLauchlan said.
Scott's market for appliance systems remained "challenging" and was likely to remain unchanged in the near future, but new skills and technologies would assist in winning contracts, while that expertise provided the nucleus of its overall skill base, he said.
"Standardisation of [other] products has reduced our reliance on one-off automation systems and has boosted revenues and profits," Mr McLauchlan said.
He said in the meat industry robotics field, there had been several commercial sales, numerous research projects had raised Scott's international reputation and there are new projects under way with two Australian meat processors; potentially worth $11 million in sales.
"These projects will provide a solid base workload for the year ahead and will enable us to build on, and further develop, our standard product offerings for this market," he said.
Scott's Chinese operations, small motors, lathes and materials and component purchasing, have been successfully integrated with the business and are growing.
"The focus for the next year is to leverage off our base and presence in a key growth market to boost revenues and profits across all of our market sectors," Mr McLauchlan said.
