Oil rig supplies firm chairman Philip Wood reflected on an eventful first year in charge at MOS International and admitted: "I knew nothing about the history of the company or its internal problems when I came here."

Mr Wood said he had achieved a turnaround in fortunes at the AIM-Listed Shipley business, which was partly reflected in yesterday's annual results.

Pre-tax losses have been cut from £1.74 million to £385,231 and turnover has grown fivefold to £1.05 million with a strong order book.

But Mr Wood, who joined last November, admitted the figures barely told the story of a dramatic year which had seen the acquisition of two firms, NIM and Ansell Jones.

He admitted that when he joined it quickly became apparent that "drastic cost-cutting had to take place if the group was going to survive".

But axing people was difficult due to "long-term employment contracts put in place by the previous management" and "outdated structures and working practices", he said.

He hit out at former chairman Brendan Larkin who initially resigned from the board and took up a sales consultancy role. Mr Larkin then undertook what Mr Wood called "a futile attempt to remove the majority of the new board" and tried to reinstate himself as an executive director" at an extraordinary general meeting.

Mr Wood said that had "exacerbated the losses by delaying and distracting the board from swift and corrective action".

Mr Larkin no longer works for the company but remains a shareholder. He said he was "in dispute" with the firm but rejected claims there was strong support for the management and claimed there was a small turn-out at the EGM. He was unhappy with the activity of the directors and hoped to call another EGM. His lawyer had contacted MOS with a view to legal action.

Mr Wood, who praised the efforts of new chief executive Stewart Wild, admitted the board had taken "some difficult and often unpopular decisions". But he said: "I knew nothing of the history of the company when I came in. I thought the products were excellent but I didn't know about the problems that were internal."

He revealed that the number of staff at Shipley had fallen from 25 to 19 and location costs had been cut by 75 per cent. But he promised the outlook was bright, with new orders in areas such as South East Asia.

Mr Wood thanked shareholders for their patience. He said it was difficult to predict when the changes would be reflected on the balance sheet but added: "If success depended on effort, then I assure you we will succeed."