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Dumfries-based haulier says ‘challenging’ conditions behind second year of losses
Currie Solutions hit by southbound squeeze By Carol Millett
Fierce competition for southbound loads combined with rising operating costs saw Currie Solutions deliver a pretax loss for the second consecutive year.
Grocontinental is growing nicely Grocontinental increased pre-tax profit by almost 13% to £5.2m just before being snapped up by Dutch firm AGRO Merchants Group in December 2017. The latest figures for the Shropshire cold storage and logistics business showed that when calculated pro rata for the 12 months to November 2017, it reported a turnover of £36m, up 6.8% on the year before. Pre-tax profit increased 12.7% from £4.6m in 2016. Grocontinental’s annual report said the purchase by AGRO “gives the company a strong and sustainable structure in which to grow and prosper in the future”. 8 MotorTransport MTR_151018_008.indd 8
The Dumfries-based haulier, which has a fleet of more than 250 trucks and 500 trailers, posted a pre-tax loss of £130,900 (2016: loss of £148,770) in the year to 31 December 2017. Turnover
fell to £39.9m (2016: £40.1m). In its annual filing to Companies House, the company said trading conditions in the UK remained challenging across all sectors, adding that the Scottish market was “extremely price sensitive”. This forced the company to reduce pricing in some cases to retain business “due to the ongoing fierce competition for southbound loads”. It added: “Rising operating costs are squeezing margins further, which is exacerbated by the ongoing driver shortage in the UK.” The report said the company’s decision to rebrand from Currie European Transport to Currie Solutions during the period was necessary to remove the “general perception” of the firm as a European haulier. It added: “We continue to
operate strong European services but UK domestic freight services now account for approaching 70% of turnover, so it has been necessary and important to get that message across to the market.” Currie Solutions MD Stephen Turner told MT that the company was responding to very testing market conditions in 2018 by focusing on the development of new and existing customer relationships, as well as by improving services in its UK and European markets. Turner said: “Without doubt the driver shortage situation has worsened this year and is now the single biggest inhibitor to growth. “Despite having fuel escalators in place, the continual upwards movement in fuel pricing is obviously having an effect.”
Elddis takes a profit hit Investment in its fleet and IT systems meant that Elddis Transport needed to restate its 2016 accounts due to an “adjustment” in the way its hire purchase interest was reported. In the year to 31 December 2017 the County Durham operator revealed a 5% rise in turnover to £26.9m (2016: £25.6m). However pre-tax profit fell to £479,000 (2016: £777,000) in the period. Speaking to MT, MD Nigel Cook, said: “Pre-tax profit was down due to the level of investment in the year in our fleet – and because of an adjustment in the way we reported our hire purchase interest in 2016 it had to be restated – otherwise our pre-tax profit would have been more or less like-for-like on the previous year. “What is significant is that our EBITDA has improved year on year.” During the year the company bought 26 MercedesBenz trucks and 30 trailers and started the roll-out of an IT project to equip all its drivers with tablet computers.
DX Group on road to recovery as turnaround strategy kicks in DX Group has declared it is on the road to recovery, after trimming its annual losses by more than £60m. Releasing its results for the year to 30 June 2018, the company made a loss after exceptional items of £19.9m compared with £82.3m in the same period a year ago. Turnover was up slightly at £299.5m (2017: £291.9m). As confirmed in a trading statement in July, the company’s debt position was better than previously anticipated following a refinancing exercise in May, standing at £1.1m (2017: £19.1m). The bulk of the £5.7m of exceptional items related to the company’s decision to end the previous management’s OneDx strategy and continue to operate its busi-
ness as two divisions, DX Freight and DX Express. This saw the end and subsequent reworking of IT systems, which were to have merged under the OneDX plan. DX Freight, previously Nightfreight, was singled out earlier this year as needing urgent action to return it to health. It made an EBITDA loss of £14.2m from a turnover of £137.8m in the reporting period. DX Express, its mail and parcels division, fared better and made an EBITDA profit of £29.3m in the year from turnover of £161.7m. DX Group chairman Ron Series said: “This year has been one of significant change for DX. The company is now on the road to recovery, as our turnaround initiatives start to gain traction.” 15.10.18
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