F&P Appliances spends $15.6m on R&D

Stuart Broadhurst, chief executive of Fisher and Paykel Appliances. Photo / Paul Estcourt

Fisher & Paykel Appliances is investing heavily in research and product development as it shores up its position in the marketplace after two of the most challenging years in its 77-year history.

Stuart Broadhurst, the East Tamaki-based whiteware maker's chief executive, said the firm had taken on about 50 new engineers in Auckland and Dunedin.

F&P Appliances was releasing new cooking products and refrigerators in the United States and new cooktops globally, as well as washing machines and clothes dryers.

"Just about every product category will come out with a new model or a new, refreshed product this year," Broadhurst said.

F&P Appliances spent $15.6 million on research and development in the year to March 31, a 47 per cent increase on the previous year.

Forsyth Barr analyst Andrew Harvey-Green said the amount of new products coming to market was a positive development for the firm, which reported a full-year net profit of $35.5 million on Friday - a big improvement on the $88.3 million loss in the previous period.

F&P Appliances' net debt had reduced to $100 million by March 31, down from around $500 million two years earlier.

Broadhurst said the company was continuing to invest in the development of components and technology.

"We've spent a lot of money on prototyping and that aspect of our business," he said.

In March the company announced an agreement to supply direct drive washing machine motors to China's Haier, the home goods maker that bought a 20 per cent stake in F&P Appliances when it was laden with debt in early 2009.

The agreement would generate revenues of between $20 million and $35 million, the firm said.

Harvey-Green said in March that the supply of components would provide higher margins than those across the rest of the appliances business, as overheads were lower. Shares closed up 5.5c, or 10 per cent, at 61c on Friday.