16th Jul 2014 08:53
LONDON (Alliance News) - Wincanton PLC Wednesday said it is trading in line with expectations, supported by growth in the UK construction industry, but warned that it continues to face competitive pressure in other sectors in which it operates.
In a statement Thursday, the supply chain services provider said revenue growth continues to be supported by new business wins and contract renewals, including a four-year contract in the construction sector with Marley Eternit and a three-year contract to provide transport services to Halo Foods. The group has also signed a three-year contract extension with soft-drinks maker Britvic PLC to operate Britvic's automated national distribution centre.
Wincanton said it will focus on building its pipeline in the year ahead, as well as winning market share and capturing customer opportunities through the cross-selling of products and services.
However, Wincanton said that despite good trading conditions in the UK construction industry, other markets are proving more challenging.
"In other sectors in which the group operates, despite the economic conditions being more benign, we continue to see competitive pressure in our marketplace as our customers retain a tight focus on their costs," the company said in a statement.
Last month, Wincanton said it had agreed a new GBP170 million bank facility with better pricing to support its medium-term funding requirements. The company refinanced its main banking facility for a further five-year term through to June 2019, and now has a total of GBP300 million in committed facilities available to it.
"We have now developed a solid platform and will continue to progress along our path to focus on renewals, new contract wins, operational excellence and free cash flow generation to reduce our overall debt position," said Chief Executive Eric Born in the statement.
Wincanton shares were down 1.9% at 136.81 pence Wednesday morning.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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