Pre-tax profit at Nightfreight jumps 199%

Nightfreight has reported a 199% rise in pre-tax profit from £785,978 to £2.3m for the year ended 30 November 2008, with turnover remaining virtually static at £137.3

Nightfreight has reported a 199% rise in pre-tax profit from £785,978 to £2.3m for the year ended 30 November 2008, with turnover remaining virtually static at £137.3m.

The results are a strong indication that Nightfreight chairman Robbie Burns’ programme of restructuring, debt reduction and investment in the business is getting the firm back on track after its 81% fall in pre-tax profit in 2007, from £4.3m to £785,978.

“We’ve made good progress from the previous year and are well placed to fight the economic storm,” says Burns.

“We’d begun taking significant costs out of the business and were starting to look at offering variable charging options to our customers when the economy started declining last year. We were therefore well ahead of the game in terms of cost control.”

Part of the firm’s restructure has involved bringing Nightfreight’s four core service areas “ Deliver2Home, Pacemaker, Contract Logistics and its Express Freight network “ closer together.

“Over the years all our services have been very separate,” explains Burns. “We wanted to face the world as one business, one team and offer variable cost solutions to customers instead of just fixed 52-week contracts.

“We’ve done this by getting the general managers to drive more of the services and using our assets more intelligently.”

Burns anticipates that profit in 2009 will be sustained at the same levels as 2008.

“It is an extremely difficult time “customers want more for less. You almost have to do all of this just to stand still. We have ambitions to grow the two-man and home delivery areas this year, while the network side we’ll look to make better rather than grow it.”