Logistics firm continues to drive forward in the face of tough market conditions

Logistics firm Wincanton saw revenues increase by 5.5 per cent over the last 12 months, according to a trading statement.

The Wiltshire business today released a trading statement update for the third quarter.

The Chippenham company said it has continued to trade in line with expectations across all its sectors despite the tough environment. It added the pipeline of new business opportunities is continuing to increase.

Group revenue for the third quarter was lower year-on-year by 1.4 per cent against tough comparatives.

The group’s grocery and consumer sector fell by seven per cent whilst the general merchandise sector remained broadly flat, both were in comparison to the record highs seen the same period the previous year.

The eFulfilment sector revenue increased by 13.6 per cent in the third quarter driven by new contracts including The White Company, City Electrical Factors and Saint Gobain, where operations commenced earlier in the year.

Performance in the Cygnia business remained robust, recent postal strikes and pressure on consumer spending meant that online volumes were below expectations for some customers. Cygnia was acquired two years ago and is a specialist mid-market eCommerce and multichannel eFulfilment provider.

Revenue from the public and industrial sector fell by 5.8 per cent, mainly due to lower volumes across the building materials market and contract attrition.

However, this was partially offset by growth in the public sector businesses, which has increased year-on-year by 25.5 per cent.

Wincanton is continuing to work with HMRC at various inland border clearance facilities together with ongoing activities for Defra.

The firm said that over the last nine months, the UK’s economic, political, and labour environments have been particularly challenging, affecting both top-line growth and the company’s underlying cost base.

Wincanton expect these difficult conditions to continue in next year.

It added that despite the volatility and headwinds in the external environment, Wincanton’s diversified customer base continues to offer resilience and the company is expecting to report profit for the current year in line with market expectations.

Chief executive James Wroath said: “I would like to thank all my colleagues for their hard work and commitment, which has been so important to our performance over the festive period and throughout third quarter trading.

“We remain focussed on driving growth with both new and existing customers; our strong pipeline is critical to Wincanton’s ability to negate the challenging external environment that we are facing.

“We continue to make great strides in supporting our technology propositions for customers, including automation and robotics, and this is supporting strong operational delivery across the group.”