Crown Oil sees profits fall

A FAMILY-OWNED oil distribution business based in Greater Manchester has seen its sales drop 20% to £103.1m over the past year.

Bury-headquartered Crown Oil supplies diesel, red diesel, heating oil, Kerosene and lubricants throughout the UK to both homes and businesses.

The company’s financial statements for the year ended August 31, 2009, show that its turnover fell from £122.9m in 2008 to £103.1m.

Over the same period, Crown Oil’s pre-tax profits more than halved from £905,000 to £433,994.

The directors – who are all members of the Greensmith family – are not recommending the payment of a dividend to shareholders.

The report of the directors states: “The directors are satisfied with the results for the year and consider that both market share and profitability can be increased over the long term resulting in greater shareholder value.

“The group will continue to invest further resources into its customer service and support programmes to ensure that the growth strategy adopted by the directors can be delivered.”

Over the past year, the company’s administrative expenses rose from £6.7m to £8.85m.

Its bill for wages and salaries rose from £4.2m to £6.2m despite its number of employees decreasing to 78 from 85.

Its accounts show that it made a one-off purchase of a ‘fixed asset investment’ for £1m and its loan repayments rose from £490,000 in 2008 to £1.67m.