Clipper confident as revenues rise
THE chairman of Clipper Logistics said the group is in an “enviable position” as it reported a 25.2% rise in revenue.
Clipper, which floated on the stock market earlier this year and works with major retailers including John Lewis, ASOS, Asda and Tesco, has seen adjusted EBIT increase by 10% to £9.6m and revenues soar to £201.2m in its full year results to the end of April.
However, profit before income tax dropped to £3.9m from £5.2m and operating profit also decreased from £6.2m to £4.8m.
Chairman Steve Parkin, who launched the Leeds-based business in 1992, said: “The group is in an enviable position; being amongst the leading providers of value-added and e-fulfilment solutions to the retail sector in the UK, the business is growing in line with its strategy and is poised for further growth in the medium term, both in the UK and internationally.”
Clipper said that as it looks ahead to the next financial year, it has a “very strong” new business pipeline.
Parkin said: “We continue to win new contracts within both e-fulfilment logistics and non e-fulfilment logistics, both in the UK and Europe, through our focus on our retail specialisms and provision of cost-effective, value-added solutions. We look forward to updating shareholders on these new contracts when they are formalised.
“The board is confident in the group’s prospects for the full year ahead. Current trading is in line with our strategic plan, and we are confident of achieving another period of excellent financial performance in the year to 30 April 2015.”
The group said it is well placed to achieve further EBIT growth in the coming financial year due to the full year benefits of recent contract wins, coupled with this strong new business pipeline. Clipper added that adjusted EBIT is the core metric by which the management team assesses corporate performance and the group says it is a more relevant measure of financial performance.
Parkin added: “We are proud to have achieved a successful listing on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange and look forward to creating further shareholder value in the next phase of the business’s development. The demand for the listing was high and we are delighted to have attracted blue chip institutional and retail investors as shareholders. The business is growing through our ability to demonstrate real value-add services for our large client base and we are confident of maintaining this level of momentum.”
A new £30m bank debt facility was put in place at IPO to facilitate targeted acquisition strategy.
