Bibby steams ahead after strong year

BIBBY Line Group, the family-owned, Liverpool-based mini-conglomerate which ranges from shipping, logistics, offshire, financial services and retail, has reported a 12% increase in revenues and record operating profits.

Turnover in 2011 -a year of strong organic growth – rose from £1.15bn to £1.29bn and operating profits – driven by its offshore and financial services units – jumped from £40.8m to £63.8m.
 
Bibby Financial Services, which provides finance to small and medium sized businesses, posted increased profits of £41.2m during the year (2010: £34.8m) while Bibby Offshore overturned a £7m loss in 2010 to record £5.7m profit before tax as demand returned for vessels and services in the North Sea.
 
The logistics division,Bibby Distribution, had a more challenging year as profits fell from £7m to £3.8m.

The trading performance was described as resilient as an acquisition was integrated and a long-standing relationship with Nisa-Today’s end in March 2011.
 
The group completd a deal to buy 100% of Yorkshire-based convenience retailer Costcutter in November and saw earnings rise with profits of £7.7m (2010: £4.4m) with 263 stores joining the fascia franchise offering.
 
Sir Michael Bibby, managing director of Bibby Line Group, said: “We have adopted a strategy of building a diverse portfolio of businesses and what we saw in 2011 was the unusual situation where nearly every business performed really well, despite challenging economic conditions.
 
“It is pleasing to note that this level of profitability should be sustainable as  it resulted from increased sales rather than profits on the disposal of assets, which has boosted figures in previous years.”
 
Bibby Line Group’s said that in 2011 under its ‘Giving Something Back’ campaign, £902,000 was donated by the company and employees to more than 350 charitable causes around the world, bringing the total raised since the programme’s inception in 2007 to over £4.2m.