The parent company of Cookstown-based screening giant CDE Global saw its sales grow by 8% during 2023 to £132.4 million, representing a doubling of its business in the space of just four years.
Pre-tax profit also rose to £5.5m from £4.9m the year before, and its employee numbers rose to 626, latest accounts from CDE Group Holdings reveal.
Founded in 1992 and controlled by Tony Convery (63) and his wife Rosemary (60), CDE is the global leader in materials wet processing technology.
It is one of Northern Ireland’s leading export stories, with almost 2,000 wet processing projects for sectors including aggregates, mining and construction delivered in more than 100 countries.
Indeed since its formation, CDE has designed, manufactured, and commissioned more wet processing plants than any other company in the world.
In a statement filed with the accounts, the directors said the level of business and the year-end financial position were considered satisfactory, and they remain confident that the current level of performance will continue to improve in the future.
The results show that gross profit grew from £27.3m to £36.3m, and after all taxes, the company retained just shy of £5.4m in profit.
Total equity in the group now stands at £37.7m, the accounts show, while cash in the bank and in hand is £10.8m.
Employee numbers in the group rose from 555 in 2022 to 626 last year, with notable 101 involved directly in research and development.
Around 250 of those staff are based at CDE’s Cookstown headquarters and a further 200 based in Belfast, with the remainder spread worldwide (the company has operations in Texas, Brazil, Australia, Dubai and Austria).
The overall wages bill at CDE now sits under a shade under £35 million.
The directors were paid a combined £1.4m, of which £475,220 was the highest salary.
Despite being one of the largest employers in Co Tyrone, CDE is continually hiring, and it has a recruitment event planned for October 3 at its Cookstown headquarters at Ballyreagh industrial estate, when it is seeking electrical technicians along with store and assembly operatives.
