Optical components and systems manufacturer Gooch & Housego saw pre-tax profits surge from £39,000 to £1.7 million in the half-year to March.

Revenues at AIM-quoted Gooch grew by an encouraging 8 per cent to £20.37 million, driven by a combination of ‘recovery in in its core markets and new business wins in the aerospace and defence and life sciences sectors.

Somerset-based Gooch, a strongly cash-generative concern making a wide variety of products including acousto-optics products such as ‘Q-switches’, modulators used inside of laser cavities, frequency shifters and tunable filters, reduced net debt from a year-end £12.1 million to £9.3 million. Furthermore, the company reported a period-end order book of £19.8 million, £14 million of which is scheduled for shipment to customers in the current financial year.

Shares in Gooch and Housego are up 18.5p to 199.5p this morning, valuing the company at £38.4 million.