Wiltshire logistics giant Wincanton has reported “robust” recent trading amid “challenging” economic conditions.
In a trading update for the third quarter, bosses at the supply chain manager, which is headquartered in Chippenham, said it was on track to make a pre-tax profit of around £62m for the current financial year.
The board pointed to the “resilience” of its diverse customer base in the face of economic, political and labour market “volatility and headwinds”, which it said had impacted its top-line growth and underlying cost base this year.
The London-listed firm - which serves clients across sectors such as retail, dairy and fuel - said it had delivered year-to-date revenue growth of 5.5% across the four sectors it operates in during the third quarter and peak period for retail customers.
This was despite group revenue for the period dipping 1.4% year-on-year against “tough comparatives”. The firm’s grocery division revenue fell by 7% while its general merchandise sector remained broadly flat - up 0.6% - both in comparison to the record highs seen in the same period a year earlier.
Bosses said the company’s e-commerce fulfilment sector revenue increased by 13.6% in the third quarter driven by new contract wins with clothing and homeware retailer the White Company, wholesaler City Electrical Factors and building materials manufacturer Saint Gobain.
The group said its Cygnia business had been impacted by recent postal strikes and pressure on consumer spending, with online volumes “below expectations” for some of its customers.
While Wincanton’s revenue from its public and industrial sector was down by 5.8%, mainly due to lower volumes across the building materials market and “contract attrition”, this was partially offset by 25.5% year-on-year growth in its public sector businesses. The group is supporting HMRC at various inland border clearance facilities, alongside work for Defra.
Chief executive James Wroath said: “We remain focused on driving growth with both new and existing customers; our strong pipeline is critical to Wincanton's ability to negate the challenging external environment that we are facing.
“We continue to make great strides in supporting our technology propositions for customers, including automation and robotics, and this is supporting strong operational delivery across the group."
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