Stobart profits get boost from Autologic buy
BRITISH haulier Stobart Group’s first-half revenue from continuing operations jumped 33 per cent, helped by its acquisition of Autologic Holdings in mid 2012.
The company, whose Eddie Stobart trucks deliver goods to retailers like Tesco, reported an underlying pre-tax profit of £13.8m in the six months ended 31 August, up five per cent from a year ago.
Revenue from continuing operations rose to £330.2m from £247.4m a year ago. Autologic, now called Automotive, brought in revenue of £54.5m.
In its transport and distribution division, of which automotive is a part, revenue rose 33 per cent to £297.5m. Stobart bought Autologic in June 2012 for £12.4m, giving it a market leading share in the automotive logistics market.
Transport, Stobart’s biggest division, has been hit by the downturn in the British retail sector and was restructured over the past year. The company has also diversified into rail, biomass energy, property and airport facilities.
Revenue in the company’s air division rose 32 per cent to £10.4m.
Stobart said airport infrastructure work on London’s Southend Airport was almost complete and expected the extended terminal building to open in January.
Revenue in the biomass division rose to £11.3m from £6.6m a year ago. Biomass tonnages increased 52 per cent despite some customer plant commissioning outages, the company said.