Scottish metal reprocessor, steel trading and environmental services company John Lawrie Group has produced another strong set of annual results, reporting further significant rises in turnover and profits for 2011.

Profit before tax more than doubled to £10.9m at the Aberdeen-based firm, while turnover for the year ended 31 December 2011 broke through the £100m barrier to reach £109m, the latest accounts from Companies House show.

Group financial director, Charlie Parker, said: “The past year has been very positive for the Group. Not only did operating revenues and profits increase in 2011, but we also reaped the benefits of gains from realising some investments made in previous years.”

Profits for the year included total investment gains of £5.9m coming from the sale of a 36% stake the firm held in Xodus Group Limited and the profit share on a property development.

John Lawrie Group also made further investment in NORM Solutions Ltd, a joint ve nture with Enviroco Ltd, which is due to commence operations in the third quarter of 2012.

In the United States, $4m of development work is nearing completion on a 25-acre facility in Houston for John Lawrie Inc., the US subsidiary which supplies steel tubular to oilfield and construction customers across North and South America.

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Mr Parker added: “Notwithstanding our diversity of investment in new ventures and internationally, we never forget where it all started off and continue to invest heavily in our core business. We have made significant investments in the infrastructure at our Aberdeen metal recycling facility that will allow us to provide our customers with an excellent support service for oil and gas decommissioning and other dismantling projects. These are major development areas for the future growth of our business.

“A larger metal reprocessing shear has been installed at our Evanton facility, near Invergordon, and new warehousing facilities have also been added there. Meanwhile, the Montrose recycling facility has just undergone further investment in its Metal Fragmentation plant.

“We will continue to develop our core businesses at home and abroad, but we will always look for new investment opportunities to add to our strength in diversity.”