Bosses at Aga Rangemaster today announced they were back in the black, with pre-tax profits of £16.4 million.

Aga, which makes its cast iron cookers at Coalbrookdale and has its offices in Ketley, Telford, said the figures were helped by a freeze on pensionable salaries.

The maker of iconic cast iron Aga cookers today said it expected “reasonable” sales over the autumn despite signs of a slowdown in consumer confidence.

Aga Rangemaster, which manufactures its cookers in Telford at its Coalbrookdale foundry and in Ketley, returned to profit in the six months to June 30 but said it did not expect to see a substantial rebound going forward.

The firm said consumers were still extremely cautious about committing to larger value purchases.

Having survived the recession, Aga followed up a profitable second half to 2009 with operating profits of £800,000 in the first half of 2010.

Revenues increased by five per cent to £123.4 million after an improvement in Aga sales volumes as existing owners upgraded their models and burner systems.

The all-in-one cooker-boiler brands, Rayburn and Stanley, were down as enthusiasm for solid fuel and wood burning models fell away. Overall, sales volumes for cast iron cookers were down 10 per cent from 6,500 to 5,850.

Aga said: “We are moving into the key autumn selling season and the current level of leads across our brands does suggest a reasonable sales period ahead although the consumer mood is currently more subdued than in the spring.

“The group responded swiftly and firmly to the recession. Over the last 18 months major steps have been taken to integrate more fully our kitchen appliance brands in the UK and in North America while keeping the clear definitions for the individual brands.

“The management structures in the UK and in North America have been streamlined and the group aims to have a single set of processes across the group. Such responses strengthen the capacity of the business to deal with weak consumer demand.”