Axial sale could bring Tibbett & Britten £100m
Tibbett & Britten, the logistics group, is planning to sell Axial, its car carrying business, in order to reinvest in its core European and North American operations.
Analysts estimated that the business could be worth £60m-£100m. John Harvey, chairman, said several parties had already expressed interest. He said: “If we were going to stay in the business we were going to have to invest in entering markets such as China.
“We have the option of sustaining the growth we have in Europe and the UK in retail logistics. In the medium term, we cannot do both.” Mr Harvey said the group could invest the proceeds of the sale in organic expansion or make a number of bolt-on acquisitions for up to £20m each.
The comments came as Tibbett & Britten reported a 7 per cent increase in pre-tax profits – from £31.3m to £33.4m – in the year to December 31. Profits were lifted by operations in the US and continental Europe and a return to profitability in South Africa.
They were held back by the £2.5m cost of fuel protests in the UK and Europe, £2m of which was within Axial. Turnover rose 15 per cent from £1.3bn to £1.5bn.
Mr Harvey said the group was not seeing any slow-down in its business in the US. “We are singing from a different hymnsheet from some of the others in the industry, who are transactionally driven.”
Mr Harvey said he did not expect the group to be hit by the foot and mouth crisis because it did not work for any large chilled food manufacturers.
A final dividend of 16.3p (15.2p) was proposed, bringing the total for the year to 23.2p (21.5p), payable from earnings per share of 44.7p (43.1p).
