Wincanton, the Chippenham-based logistics group, is on the road back to profitable growth, its chief executive said today.
The group plunged to a £75.5m first half loss, which it blamed on lower volumes in a tough market. But in its interim management statement today, chief executive Eric Born outlined a number of new business wins across a range of sectors, adding: “We have started the year well and are on track to deliver our plan. Despite a challenging economy, we continue to make good progress along our path to return to sustainable profit growth.”
The statement, for the period from April 1 to today, said trading had “continued with strong new business momentum”. The group secured a contract with Kiddicare to support its multi-channel growth, a new contract with Rolls-Royce and shared-user warehousing business with The Retail People and Ella's Kitchen.
It also won new transport contracts with CEMEX and Smyths Toys and renewals with Dairy Crest, AvantiGas, Neal’s Yard Remedies and Superquinn.
While the retail sector continued to be competitive, Wincanton racked up new business with a number of large retailers including Asda and Sainsbury’s.
The group continued to perform well in the defence sector and in the specialist Pullman and Records Management businesses. New contracts were secured in the containers sector despite volumes being hit by weak market conditions. However, the construction sector remained depressed.
