Wincanton reports revenue dip but operating profit increase

British logistics firm Wincanton plc has announced its full year results to 31 March 2019. The company’s revenue has declined 2.6% to £1,141.5 million but underlying operating profit increased by 4.5% to £55.3 million.

The company stated that contract wins largely offset  impact of losses from prior year and first half. It also reported pretax profit growth of 28% to £48.6 million in the year to the end of March from £37.9 million the year earlier, despite revenue slipping by 2.6% to £1.14 billion from £1.17 billion.

Adrian Colman, Chief Executive, commented: “This year, we have seen key areas such as our Retail General Merchandise business grow strongly, demonstrating the real value that we deliver to our customers.  In the second half of the year we secured substantial new contract wins that should position the Group well in the coming periods. Revenue performance overall in the year was impacted by the loss of certain contracts at the end of the previous financial year and the first half of this year.

Disciplined contract selection, performance improvement and cost management initiatives across the Group, including the benefits from restructuring actions taken last year, have combined to deliver underlying operating profit growth of 4.5% and underlying earnings per share growth of 8.8%.  Our dividend per share growth of 10.0%, demonstrates our healthy balance sheet, strong cash generation and our confidence in delivering returns for all stakeholders.  We will continue to develop our market-leading capabilities to enhance our excellent customer service and operational delivery, enabling us to make further progress in the years ahead.”

Liad Meidar, Management Partner and CIO, Gatemore Capital Management commented: “We are pleased that today’s results show Wincanton continuing to move in the right direction, and we support changes spearheaded by the new chairman which should position Wincanton for further success.  The market seems to be catching on, with Wincanton dramatically outperforming peers in the logistics sector over the past year.”