Wales Manufacturing Stephen Farrell

Turnover has passed the £200m mark at battery manufacturer Yuasa, a sponsor of MotoGP and British Touring Car teams, thanks to sales growth across its divisions.

The group manufactures and sells industrial, automotive and motorcycle batteries and is a sponsor of the Halfords Yuasa Racing British Touring Car Championship and Repsol Honda MotoGP teams.

It has its European headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Ebbw Vale along with sales companies based in Swindon in the UK, Milan, Lyon, Madrid and Dusseldorf.

According to the latest accounts for GS Yuasa Battery Europe Ltd, turnover rose to £211.3m in the year ending 31 December 2016, up from £191.3m in 2015.

Pre-tax profit also soared to £4.4m from £323,000 the year before. Each of Yuasa's sales companies was said to be profitable during the year.

In their report accompanying the results, the directors said growth had been driven by "increased sales volumes, production efficiencies and continued focus on delivering value on high quality products".

The growth in revenue was consistent across the group's division, with industrial sales up 13 per cent, motorcycle sales up 12 per cent and automotive sales up 9 per cent.

Yuasa's manufacturing operation achieved an improved performance thanks to "production efficiencies" while factory productivity is also said to be improving.

The directors added: "The directors expect all group companies to continue the performance improvement in 2017 and the group as a whole to increase proﬁts for the foreseeable future.

"Initiatives implemented over recent years such as the realignment of the sales companies' territories and corresponding investment in resources are expected to consolidate our customer base and secure new customers."

The EU referendum results was said to have had "limited impact" on the business so far, with the exception of the "initial impact on foreign currency exposure". However, the potential long-term impact would not be known until negotiation have completed.

Yuasa's Ebbw Vale manufacturing site and Swindon sales office were both established in 1981.