Strong sales growth at Finland's leading injection moulding group Perlos Oy ( PO Box 9, FIN-01901 Nurmijärvi) has led to increased investment in new production capabilities. 1997 sales levels are running at some 10% ahead of budget and for the period January-July were 27% ahead of the previous year. Net sales for 1996 were FIM 652m. Profitability is also exceeding budget levels enabling investments of over USD 18.3m for the year. Four plant expansions have either been completed or are in progress. The largest will be at its Lehmonharju, Finland technical plastics site where, by the end of the year, production space will have been doubled to 10,000 m2 to allow more space for postmoulding assembly and finishing as well as for injection moulding.

Technical plastics is the largest of Perlos' divisions operating six factories, four in Finland and one each in the UK and the USA. The group has over 350 injection moulding machines ranging from 20 to 200 tonnes clamp. Its other main divisions are in connectors and precision plastics made in a clean room environment. It also has its own in house tooling and automation facilities.

Perlos is jointly owned by G.W. Sohlberg AB, another leading Finnish industrial group with activities in plastics processing, and a Swedish-American private equity fund, Scandinavian Equity Partners. In September it reached an agreement with GWS Plast Oy, a subsidiary of GWS manufacturing plastic packaging, to transfer Perlos' caps and closures business at its Nurmijärvi plant to GWS' Klaukkala plant. This arrangement will enable Perlos to expand production to meet growing demand from the electronics industry.