A spate of new contract wins from major retailers have helped drive Chippenham-based logistics group Wincanton back into profit.
The group, which made a £13.6m pre-tax loss in the six months to the end of September last year, reported pre-tax profits of £13m in the equivalent period this year.
It said its underlying performance had been positive with high points being an agreement with B&Q to support its multi-channel operations across the UK and a five-year contract with Morrisons to operate its first dedicated UK convenience distribution centre in London.
Future growth continued to be supported by investment to develop product and service extensions while current trading was in line with expectations, the group said.
Underlying operating profits rose to £24.3m from £22.3m on group revenue down from £625.4m to £551.2m.
Chief executive Eric Born said: “The renewal of existing contracts remains a priority and will continue to underpin our success. The group also remains focused on pursuing opportunities to further assist our existing and new customers within the wider supply chain arena.
“We are encouraged to see further new contract wins that will assist the group over the next 18 months and have seen some initial opportunities to expand the product and service range to our traditional customers and also other groupings, such as mid-tier retailers.
“Whilst the challenge is undoubtedly greater against the current economic environment, many of the actions already underway throughout the group will enable us to take advantage of any market upturn and we expect to make further progress in the remainder of the year.”
Wincanton’s ability to integrate warehousing, supply chain management and logistics and its ability to deploy market-leading IT processes gave it a competitive advantage, he said, and the group’s strategy of achieving a clear leadership position in the UK & Ireland supply chain market continued to gather momentum.
Looking ahead, he added: “Our new business pipeline remains healthy and we continue to be successful in securing significant levels of customer contract renewals. We remain acutely focused on margin growth and free cash flow generation.”
Meanwhile finance director at Jon Kempster has stepped down from the board to pursue other opportunities.
Mr Kempster joined the group in July 2010 and played a key role transforming the business, including disposal of the mainland European operations, renewal of its bank facilities and the triennial pension scheme valuation.
He will remain with Wincanton until a successor is in place or until January 31 next year.
The company said the search for a new finance director was underway.
Chief executive Eric Born said: “I would like to thank Jon for his significant contribution since becoming group finance director of Wincanton. I am personally very grateful to him for his support during a challenging period for the company and I wish him continuing success for the future.”
