Wincanton, the national logistics group, is on the road to deliver more double-digit revenue growth, partly driven by the huge rise in online shopping over the past year.
The Chippenham-headquartered group’s chair told the London Stock Exchange-listed group’s AGM that it had made good operational and strategic progress over the past three months.
As a result, its trading was in line with current market expectations despite the wider economic headwinds, Dr Martin Read CBE said.
In May, Wincanton – which employs around 19,600 workers, including 5,500 drivers – reported a 16.3% increase in annual revenue to £1.42bn, triggering a rise in underlying pre-profits of 23% to £58.1m.
Dr Read said group revenue for the first quarter of this financial year grew by around 11% compared to the same quarter last year – or around 9% excluding the impact of the group’s recent acquisitions.
These include eCommerce fulfilment specialist Cygnia Logistics, which it bought for £23.9m last September.
Cygnia’s contribution helped its eFulfilment business increase revenue by 17% in the first quarter, during which it began operations for The White Company under a new five-year contract which will involve transferring its warehousing and distribution operations to Wincanton’s own state-of-the-art eFulfilment facility.
Revenue in its public and industrial revenues business also grew by 11%, reflecting the full-year impact of the group’s public sector work with HMRC and further warehousing activity with infrastructure customers.
Growth in its two other business operations – grocery and consumer and general merchandise – came in at 8% and 13% respectively.
Dr Martin said growth had continued across all four sectors, with each also building “an attractive pipeline” of opportunities.
Backed by a strong balance sheet, the group continued to focus investment into robotics and automation, he added, with a £3m investment in robotic automation in Cygnia progressing to plan with three customers due to go live during the third quarter.
Looking ahead, he added: “While it is mindful of the macroeconomic environment, the board remains confident that the combination of a robust business model, new contract wins, disciplined pricing and a strong balance sheet, means the group is on track to deliver full year results in line with current market expectations.”
Wincanton, Britain’s largest third-party logistics group, operates more than 200 sites across the country and has around 3,500 vehicles on the road.
