22nd Jul 2020 16:49
(Alliance News) - Wincanton PLC on Wednesday said trading has continued to improve and it is now expecting annual profit ahead of market forecasts.
Should the third-party logistics company be spared any "further Covid-19 impacts", it expects to report annual underlying pretax profit of at least GBP30 million, "significantly ahead of current market forecasts".
This would however, represent a fall of 43% from the underlying pretax profit of GBP52.9 million achieved in its most recent financial year, ended March 31.
The company said it has seen a "steady recovery" in trading since it reported on its annual results back in June.
Wincanton attributed this to a "combination of our strong new business performance, early cost intervention measures and the recovering economy".
"There have been improved levels of demand across most of the business, particularly in home delivery operations and eFulfilment, although volumes in some areas, including construction and fuel distribution, remain below prior year," Wincanton said.
"The group acted swiftly to implement structural cost changes in response to the reduction in demand. This included down-sizing our vehicle fleet and reducing overhead costs across the group. In addition, variable costs have been closely managed to match returning demand levels."
Back in June, Wincanton said pretax profit for the year ended March 31 fell to GBP43.8 million from GBP48.6 million. Revenue grew by 5.2% to GBP1.20 billion from GBP1.14 billion.
Wincanton shares closed up 7.1% at 185.00 pence each on Wednesday in London.
By Neetika Kurup; [email protected]
Copyright 2020 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
WIN.L