Xpediator Group: sales increased by £33 million in 2019

Xpediator, a provider of freight management services across the UK and Central and Eastern Europe has confirmed that trading for the year ended 31 December 2019 is expected to be in line with market expectations.

Financial Highlights

• Group turnover increased 19% to £212 million (2018: £179.2 million) driven by a healthy mix of organic and acquisition led growth:
• £18 million / 10.4% organic sales growth
• £15 million / 8.6% generated from acquisitions
• Good organic growth across the Group:
• Freight Forwarding, sales up 16%
• Transport Solutions, sales down 3%
• Logistics & Warehousing, sales up 32%
• Adjusted pre-tax profit expected to be slightly above £5.0 million, in line with management guidance provided in the Company’s 2019 interim results
• Net cash increased to £6.9 million (2018: £3.4 million) excluding finance leases, reflecting strong cash generation and the Group’s asset light structure

Operational Drivers

• The Baltic region was again a key growth area within the Freight Forwarding division with Lithuania and Estonia performing particularly strongly compared to prior year
• The Pall-EX franchise which provides national 24-hour pallet services across Romania continues to grow and is now handling 60,700 pallets per month (2018: 50,0000)
• Benfleet Far East activity also continued to grow in-line with management expectations
• Previously reported issues at Benfleet and Import Services now resolved and both are well positioned to deliver growth in 2020
• The project in Regional Express is now operational with offices established in both China and Germany and volumes expected to increase substantially during 2020
• Focussed on successfully completing the final stages of integration of previously acquired businesses in the first half of 2020
• Continued healthy pipeline of potential acquisitions, albeit the focus remains on improved integration of recent acquisitions, cross-selling services and delivering organic opportunities
• Committed to long-term value enhancing investment in IT to support the improved efficiency and scalability of the Group

Xpediator’s audited final results for FY 2019 will be announced in April 2020.

Stephen Blyth, CEO of Xpediator said: “2019 saw the Group increase sales by £33 million, an excellent achievement and one we intend to build upon in 2020. We have expanded the services we are able to offer, have attracted more customers and see further opportunities to increase the number of services we provide including assessing how various new technologies might further improve operations whilst continuing to monitor the cost base of the Group. Despite the challenges incurred during 2019, the core businesses have performed strongly, and the Board remains confident in the outlook for the Group.”