Steady as she goes for Steljes in FY11

Sales and profits crawl up but operating margins remain thin in solid year for AV distributor

Distributor Steljes navigated a tricky education spending environment in FY11 as it nudged up both sales and profit.

Documents recently filed with Companies House reveal that, for the 12 months to the end of June 2011, the Bagshot-based audiovisual specialist saw sales rise 1.2 per cent to £58.9m. Operating profit grew 16 per cent to £736,000. Net assets fell by about £160,000 to just over £2m during the course of the year.

The directors' report for the year says: "The company expects the current economic climate to remain challenging, particularly within the education sector, and monitors company performance closely, taking appropriate steps to mitigate potential exposure."

The report goes on to explain that Steljes continues to look to diversify its vendor base to help mitigate the risk of relying on a handful of key vendors. Steljes' employee numbers rose almost 10 per cent during the year, from a monthly average of 150 to 164.