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Thermal processing services provider Bodycote swung to an annual loss as restructuring costs and a pandemic-led decline in revenue weighed on performance.
For the year ended 31 December 2020, the pre-tax loss was £1.5 million, compared with a profit of £123.9 million as revenue fell 16.9% to £598.0 million.
'The fall in demand that occurred in the second quarter led to an unprecedented drop in revenues that was significantly greater than even the worst points of the global financial crisis in 2008 and 2009,' the company said.
Operating margin correspondingly declined to 11.8% from 15.8%.
The results were hurt by £36 million of restructuring costs that was expected to generate £30 million of annual savings by 2022.
The company proposed a final dividend of 13.4 pence, which brought the total ordinary dividend for 2020 to 19.4 pence, up from 19.3 pence last year.
Looking ahead, markets are recovering, though the uncertain timeline for recovery in the civil aerospace market clouds the short-term outlook for this part of the business.